It is irrelevant whether or not Lafreniere plays on PP1 or PP2. Last I checked he has been playing great since early last season, and the Rangers PP is pretty good overall. What is relevant is the Rangers are lazy and soft, and I see zero reason that would change with the stale core still in place.
Let's be clear, playing lazy wide open and loose in game 2 of the regular season doesn't mean sh*t big picture, just like dominating the terrible Pens in game 1 of the regular season doesn't mean sh*t big picture. The issue is this is now who the team is. They have way too many lapses and play way too soft to be a legit SC team.
I'll tell you what else is an issue, Zibanejad's play. That guy has lost it big time. I happen to think this is co-issue # 1 on the team (along with their soft play and D zone lapses). Let's be fair, he plays in all situations and has a very important role on the team, but he is paid to a # 1 C who has a big impact on the game, and scores goals and points, and yes that includes at even strength. His play in OT last night was pretty shameful. He made a bad play giving the puck away at Utah's blueline, he then simply refused to cover his man as he skated in on Igor with 5 miles of open ice. No clue what he was doing, but what I do know is he has become lazy and useless offensively at even strength, he refuses to shoot the puck at even strength, and we cannot succeed at the top level if he plays that way, he is essentially now a PP specialist when it comes to offense. Will never ever happen, but Lav should scratch him for a few games, like he sat Igor for a few games last season, and maybe that will wake him up, because if this is Mika now, we have no shot (not that I think we have any real shot anyway - but having a top Mika would surely help the cause).
They will win their share of regular season games, and make the playoffs, but they have very little chance of winning a Cup, and that's unfortunate.