The start — four goals in seven games, directly following a postseason where he collected eight in 16 — was promising for Alexis Lafrenière.

It all prompted a contract extension and a seven-year commitment that ensured he’d remain part of the Rangers’ new-look core well into the future.

The remainder of the 2024-25 season did not go as planned for the 23-year-old winger. He scored 13 goals in his next 74 games leading up to the season finale against the Lightning, with only three goals since February 5th.

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Lafrenière experienced goal droughts of 13 and 14 games.

He failed to sustain the postseason magic and fell short of the expectations his contract’s $52 million price tag created.

He started to overthink more than he likely did in previous seasons while also searching for a way to “get one to go in and feel better afterward,” he told The Post on Wednesday.

“Maybe a little for sure,” Lafrenière said of overthinking more than in past seasons, “when you go through long times of not scoring or whatever. For sure, you think about it when you’re on the ice. Yeah, wasn’t the best year for sure.”

Those shortcomings will shape his offseason, when the Rangers will likely experience plenty of change but Lafrenière, given his deal, will remain a constant.

That stability, though, “comes with responsibility,” he said.

He’ll need to get stronger off the ice. Need to improve his skating while on it. Need to improve at finding crevices that lead to better chances, in addition to getting to the net and to the “tough areas.”

Head coach Peter Laviolette said that he has the potential “to have a big impact in the game” just like someone such as Artemi Panarin, something that materialized for the Rangers when they needed it most last postseason.

But after a brief spurt to start the year, that progress fizzled. Lafrenière, a former No. 1 overall pick, stalled.

And now, Laviolette said, “it’s about consistency.”

“There’s always gonna be ups and downs from year to year — or even inside of a year,” Laviolette said. “You do learn from it. You try to push forward from that.”

Sam Carrick was named the recipient of the Players’ Player Award, which was voted on by Rangers teammates, while Panarin — with 37 goals and 89 points through 81 games — was named team MVP by members of the media. Panarin was also announced as the media’s Good Guy award recipient.

“Panarin’s probably speaks for itself,” Laviolette said of the team MVP and Players’ Player nods. “… You can see it in the way he plays the game, the impact that he has on the ice is important to this team.

“With regard to [Carrick], that couldn’t have been to a better guy, better person in the way he carries himself and handles himself in the locker room, what he does for the team out on the ice. He plays a physical game. He would go in and stick up for any one of his teammates in a split second.”

Longtime play-by-play broadcaster Sam Rosen, who has been a staple of Blueshirts games for 40 years, will call his final game Thursday night.