LaLaLaprise said:
GMs were stupid and bought the whole "he cant skate tag" that was given to him when Bobby Ryan was just as bad but that part of his game was overlooked because he had big time skills.
GM's were able to look past the skating for Bobby Ryan but not for Latendresse.
GM's are not stupid, but they clearly see something in Ryan's game that Latendresse does't have even if they're both bad skaters, Ryan is a dominant forward and I see a lot of Rick Nash in him, Latendresse is a decent prospect as well but there's a reason why he was't picked so high, if he was a big shot he would've went top 10.
Of course GM's can be proved wrong in a couple of years, but from my experience I've seen how some players fall off the top 10/15, in our Red Wing system we have Hudler, drafted 58th in 2002 and was supposed to be a top 15 pick, 3 years later I think Hudler was a steal but I think he'll barely make the top 15 mark for that year, perhaps top 20. McGrath is another guy, he was ranked in the top 10 for 2004 draft, of course at the time of the draft we took him 128th overall, a year later and I see why he was passed on, because he'll barely make it as a late 1st rounder for that year.
Latendresse is a solid prospect, but I think 20 random prospects from the 2005 are easily better then him, if he was a top 10 talent then the Montreal GM was a dummi as well for passing on him and taking Price at 5th.
