Trade Suggestion

[Athlétique.Canadien]

I'm not sure about any trade right now when our depth is going to be further tested. I hope it's true ( ) that long term injury listed players allow teams to open up cap room based on the prorated salary of the player while he's injured.

I doubt BOb will move Latendresse at this point in time. To lose Latendresse for a short term solution in Bergeron is tricky for sure. We have Weber. There's some defensive questions with him but he has quarterback skills in spades

Go Habs!

Edited December 11, 2008 by Athlétique.Canadien

[MAK]

Living in la-la Nippon, I didn't get to watch a lot of games until this year. But answer me this guys ~ did Guidon hit more during the 2006 preseason or during the 2008 season?

Sorry but when I watch Latendresse I don't see a physical guy out there, I'm not trying to pick a fight ~ what do you think, does he play like 6'2" 230lbs?

Anyway IMO it would be a big mistake to trade him for Bergeron.

he plays like a big teddy bear.

[MMPL]

He leads team in hits w/ 55

[simonus]

well, from today's Gazette:

Guillaume Latendresse gets a chance to play because Christopher Higgins is out with an undisclosed injury to his left arm and said he hopes to impress the coaching staff with a more aggressive style that might involve a risk or two.

<snip>

"The confidence level hasn't been very high, but I think I have to start playing like I was at the beginning of the season," said Latendresse, who has missed the past four games. "I have to be confident, try some plays, go hard to the net and stay there.

"I think maybe my intensity wasn't there and I started being too cautious. I wasn't trying to make plays because I didn't want to make turnovers. When I was playing with Saku, I would chip it behind a guy off the boards, get it back, pass it and go to the net. At the end, before I was scratched, I'd just dump it in and lie back."

promises, promises.... I never put much stock in pre-game bravado, but it seemed relevant to this thread....

[CerebusClone]

Trading Latendresse at this point would pretty admitting that we made a huge mistake by rushing him into the NHL too quickly instead of letting develop properly through the juniors, the WJC, and some time in the minors. While people will move on somewhat quickly when you mess up the development of a foreigner like Perezhogin, or didn’t give guys like Grabovski or Hainsey a genuine chance to prove themselves, it won’t be the case for a francophone power-forward from the Montreal region who displayed so much potential at the ages of 18 and 19.

This is too bad for Latendresse, the kid works hard. He was rushed into the league when he wasn’t ready, had to learn at the NHL level while playing the role of a marginal forth liner, and never had the chance to learn and acquire the tools he needs through making and learning from mistakes (that’s the best way to learn and improve). However he certainly had some share of the blame, you look at Milan Lucic in Boston who took the very same road with great success; he never stopped improving, quickly worked his way from energy player/enforcer on the forth line to being a strong contributor to one of hottest lines in hockey right now.

[CerebusClone]

He leads team in hits w/ 55

Sure, but do you feel like he's a strong physical presence for the Canadiens? Is he using his body and strength to generate opportunities for himself and his teammates? Is he intimidating anyone, and making them think twice before going into a corner against him?

Right now I don't think so. I think he's basically skating, and trying to finish every check because that’s what the coaches are asking him to do, but it seems to me that most of the time there's barely minimal contact (and quite a few times I’ve seen him get himself out of position for finishing a check even though the puck is going in the other direction). To me he still looks like a bit of a floater.

Honestly I feel that a guy like Andrei Kostsitsyn has been a stronger physical presence. He may not have the same hits total, but I’ve seen him often body check a player to steal the puck away from him (which generated opportunities, some of them leading to goals), and use his strength along the boards and to protect the puck to move it.

[Habsfan]

You guys have no patience...

THe Habs are 4th in the conference and are doing well. We can afford to be patient with Gui...Give the kid a chance. If we trade him now, we will regret it for the next 10-12 years!

Sure, but do you feel like he's a strong physical presence for the Canadiens? Is he using his body and strength to generate opportunities for himself and his teammates? Is he intimidating anyone, and making them think twice before going into a corner against him?

I'll admit Gui could use the body a little more, but to say that he doesn'T hit, is simply not true. He's been moved around so much, and he's been asked to do so many different things in such a short span of time, that the Kid didn't know what was expected of him anymore! What I'd lie to see Gui do a little more is park his butt in front of the net. It would also be nice if he could get SOME PP time out there!

Why was he moved from the Koivu-Tanguay line at the beginning of the year? He had 6 points in his first 8 games...which is very good. Then, for absolutely no reason, he was "demoted" to the 3rd line.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Habsfan

[CerebusClone]

You guys have no patience...

THe Habs are 4th in the conference and are doing well. We can afford to be patient with Gui...Give the kid a chance. If we trade him now, we will regret it for the next 10-12 years!

I'll admit Gui could use the body a little more, but to say that he doesn'T hit, is simply not true. He's been moved around so much, and he's been asked to do so many different things in such a short span of time, that the Kid didn't know what was expected of him anymore! What I'd lie to see Gui do a little more is park his butt in front of the net. It would also be nice if he could get SOME PP time out there!

Why was he moved from the Koivu-Tanguay line at the beginning of the year? He had 6 points in his first 8 games...which is very good. Then, for absolutely no reason, he was "demoted" to the 3rd line.

Actually despite the points Latendresse wasn't much of the factor on the ice, at least in my opinion. That line was also producing very little for the few games prior to his "demotion" (in my opinion it was move from one good line to another, in fact I mentioned maybe 3 weeks ago that Lang was in my opinion our best centre so far, and now statistically he's almost there too).

The idea to use a struggling player on the powerlpay in the hopes that he regains confidence is always interesting - in fact I was mentioning before he became a healthy scratch that using O'Byrne on the first pairing to replace Komisarek could have given him the boost and support (a guy like Markov makes it much easier for his partner) he needed - however this is a strategy we've used several times with Guillaume, and he keeps reverting back to his passive self that all his coaches have complained about (Dominic Ricard in the Q, Brent Sutter at the WJC, and now Carbonneau).

I agree that Latendresse seems to be struggling to find an identity, I agree that Carbonneau may have messed him up over the last 2 years, however Latendresse must know what type of player he needs to be: it's the player that earned hmiself a contract, the one of was a physical force, an intimidating presence, and an effective player in the offensive zone. In a way it almost looks as if Latendresse is sitting on his contract, he was a monster during his first 2 training camps, he signed a contract, and was never that player again.

[BCHabnut]

Everyone wants Lats to be Lucic. He is not. I agree that he is not what I expected, and I have even called him out on these boards. I think Lats wants to be more of a Bertuzzi style player. Bertuzzi is very good in the middle of the ice, and can use his size and speed to outwit defense.

Lats has very good hands, and I think if he could simplify his game and get more on ice vision, it would help. Often, when he is alone with the puck, I see him try to split the D or do a drag around someone. "NO" "BAD LATS" Chip the boards, protect the puck with that big frame, and go to the net. His play with the puck should be along the boards and driving the net when he has puck support for a short pass. We all know that, but he is a kid. He will get it. There are others players on this team which concern me more right now.

Plek and Higgins are not playing nearly to their potential. I will give Sergei the benefit of the sophomore curse, but he too is playing very below his capability. I forgive Sergei though, because he is such chippy player. He just borders dirty. If he could get the intensity to match, I think we have a playoff performer.

[BTH]

Cerebus was talking more about the situations they were in than their style of play.

If we're judging their games, I'd call Latendresse less of a pure powerforward and more of a playmaking powerforward. I think he's more likely to wind up a 30-40 player or a 30-30 player than he is of becoming a 40-30 or 40-20 guy. I don't think he's ever going to be a big goal scorer. He's hyped up that way but he enjoys passing too much to ever score 40 or more. Once Koivu and Kovalev are gone, I could see him working out on a line with Plekanec and Higgins or something like that. We're fortunate that all of our young guys seem to work well together. I'm comfortable with just about any combination of the Kostitsyns, Latendresse, Plekanec, Higgins and Pacioretty.

[CerebusClone]

Everyone wants Lats to be Lucic. He is not. I agree that he is not what I expected, and I have even called him out on these boards. I think Lats wants to be more of a Bertuzzi style player. Bertuzzi is very good in the middle of the ice, and can use his size and speed to outwit defense.

I agree that he's not exactly like Lucic, he simply doesn't have the passion nor the edge (however I would say that Lats is a little more naturally skilled) however as I said, I personally want to see is the Guillaume Latendresse from his first 2 training camps, the player who forced the organization to reconsider their plans. That player was just as impressive as Lucic, although different, and unfortunately I have yet to see that player after 173 NHL regular season games, and 8 playoff games.

In other words, I want to see the player we signed.