Re-sign Latendresse

DrEasy

Out rumptackling
Oct 3, 2010
10,909
6,568
Stützville
I'm not in love with either player, but I think there's ample room for both on our current roster, or even on next year's.
 

L'Aveuglette

つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Jan 8, 2007
47,728
19,694
Montreal
He's only helped this team out since returning from the injury. How can we not at least consider re-signing him? Some people just have an irrational hate for certain players whatever they do. So what if he's slow if he provides offense? We absolutely need these types of players in Ottawa! The more the merrier.
 

Stylizer1

SENSimillanaire
Jun 12, 2009
19,276
3,689
Ottabot City
I guess he's a guy who will never be good enough for some people. He was brought in to provide offense, and when he does that, he's not good enough defensively. When he shows that he has great hockey sense and scoring instincts, he's a cherry picker. :shakehead

All of the negativity that has followed him throughout his brief career he had managed to bring here. He was brought in to 1) help our team and 2) to get his career back on track.

Out of shape, slow, are things he could have done a way better job at for us, being injury prone is somewhat out of his hands to a certain point.
 

Stylizer1

SENSimillanaire
Jun 12, 2009
19,276
3,689
Ottabot City
He's only helped this team out since returning from the injury. How can we not at least consider re-signing him? Some people just have an irrational hate for certain players whatever they do. So what if he's slow if he provides offense? We absolutely need these types of players in Ottawa! The more the merrier.

some say irrational hate, some say obvious observations.

Nothing anyone has said here indicates they hate Latendresse. They are pointing out the deficiencies in his game that you overlook. If Latendresse was out of the line up right now would that be a huge loss?
 

Here I Pageau Again

Registered User
Jul 4, 2012
8,249
2,838
Honestly, the way Lats has played the last few games, I think it would be a loss.

Of course, without him we'd make do. But he does offer some scoring, which is great.

He obviously has LOTS to work on, but I'd be willing to give him another low short term contract and see what he does. I wasn't going in thinking he was going to be our best player, or even close. Just a guy that can score sometimes. He's a guy that was going to have obvious rust, and think that another short term/cheap contract to see what he does isn't a bad thing.
 

Stylizer1

SENSimillanaire
Jun 12, 2009
19,276
3,689
Ottabot City
Honestly, the way Lats has played the last few games, I think it would be a loss.

Of course, without him we'd make do. But he does offer some scoring, which is great.

He obviously has LOTS to work on, but I'd be willing to give him another low short term contract and see what he does. I wasn't going in thinking he was going to be our best player, or even close. Just a guy that can score sometimes. He's a guy that was going to have obvious rust, and think that another short term/cheap contract to see what he does isn't a bad thing.

That's what I was getting at. The way he has play recently is good but it needs to be a lot better if he is going to be a player we count on to stay in our line up. It really depends on how he looks come the end of the season if we give him an extension. If he shows improvement then okay but if he waddles his way at his current rate I would say no.
 

SNAPshot

Registered User
Jul 18, 2006
3,334
0
OTTAWA
Although his durability comes into question, from what I've seen so far this year, I thinnk he's a great value and would probably resign at a decent price. We need some of what he brings.

He's very vocal on the bench and probably liked by his teammates, he seems to like Ottawa and on the ice, he has some finish, some physicality and despite the foot speed, you can see that he knows where to go in order to get the puck.

I'd be up for a 2 year - 3/3.5 M type of deal. What do we have to lose at that price? If healthy, he's 2nd line material and we need that type of player. If hurt or not producing, we give youngsters an opportunity. I still think he could do some damage with Spezza.
 

Here I Pageau Again

Registered User
Jul 4, 2012
8,249
2,838
That's what I was getting at. The way he has play recently is good but it needs to be a lot better if he is going to be a player we count on to stay in our line up. It really depends on how he looks come the end of the season if we give him an extension. If he shows improvement then okay but if he waddles his way at his current rate I would say no.

Latendresse has the skill set that most of our players DO NOT have.

He started off the season still having occasional migranes and needing time off. Since coming back, he's improved greatly, and helped our team immensely. 6 points in 8 games is not too shabby for a 2/3 line guy.

To me, why I would give him a contract is:
1) Age --- he's still very young
2) Skillset --- he has a skill set of a top six winger, his ceiling is higher than MANY of our AHLers playing right now
3) Full summer of training with Sens

I wouldn't give him a LONG contract, or worth a lot of money, but a 1-2 year contract similar to the one he has now is completely fine with me. Why not see if the kid can get up to where he can? If he doesn't play well, he's replaced, and isn't a loss. If he does play well, he's a skilled goal scorer we could use badly.
 
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Ice-Tray

Registered User
Jan 31, 2006
16,288
8,100
Victoria
hasn't the guy been suffering from migraines? I remember reading that everyone thought it was concussion related the whole time, but that it turns out it is not.

How about we see how things go now that he has been properly diagnosed. The truth is that he's been great for us since he's been back, but that of course is only the truth through my eyes.

Cheers
 

edx

Registered User
Mar 26, 2013
23
0
Latendresse is popularly described as being out of shape, but I’ve also read where the team was happy with his commitment to being in shape. I’m not that connected to the rumour mill, so maybe my info is bad, but another possibility occurred to me.

If you pay attention to recent science results, you’ll know that not every body responds to exercise to the same degree. That is for the same exercise performed, some will gain more muscle, more endurance, etc. Obviously most professional athletes are at the very upper edge of how much they respond—in general anyone who isn’t won’t make it to the upper ranks. I wonder if Latendress isn’t quite so blessed in this regard. I’d think that with his size, hands, and hockey sense he might have been able to stay in the upper tier throughout his development, even if he couldn’t seem to achieve the same fitness level as many of his team mates.

I’m not saying that this is the case, just speculating on the possibility. If it is so, you’d have to assume that he could still do somewhat better (think of Gary Robert’s transformation from his extreme dedication), but that it is unlikely he’d ever achieve the speed and endurance of many of the other players. If his up side on speed and fitness were not far above what we see now, would that change how you felt about re-signing him?

(for my part, I’d say our coaching staff is smart enough to work to players’ strengths and try to work around their weaknesses, so unless and until we can find another big body with soft hands who will get his goals within a few strides of the net but who has more all around game, I think having him in the line up adds another dimension to the team, and I trust the coaches to make use of it. But from a management perspective I’d be looking for that upgrade)

Also: hello! long time reader, first time poster :)
 

Slack

everything's fine?
Apr 27, 2012
3,692
466
That's what I was getting at. The way he has play recently is good but it needs to be a lot better if he is going to be a player we count on to stay in our line up. It really depends on how he looks come the end of the season if we give him an extension. If he shows improvement then okay but if he waddles his way at his current rate I would say no.

The fact that we could "make do" without him has zero bearing on him here. We've "made do" without Spezza, Karlsson, Cowen, and now Anderson & Michalek.

If he shows improvement? How is 6 points in 8 games needing improvement?
 

source

Registered User
Jul 13, 2008
6,010
0
If he was 30 years old then we would not have this craziness. You guys need to get over his stats. I'll admit he's looking better than he was, but he has no intensity! Remember the playoffs? Remember??
 

Here I Pageau Again

Registered User
Jul 4, 2012
8,249
2,838
If he was 30 years old then we would not have this craziness. You guys need to get over his stats. I'll admit he's looking better than he was, but he has no intensity! Remember the playoffs? Remember??

The thing is, is he HAS been contributing.

If he doesn't, sit him. His contract isn't big enough to care. Sign him a small contract for a small term and see if he gets that. If he doesn't its not a big loss, if he does its a HUGE gain.
 

Slack

everything's fine?
Apr 27, 2012
3,692
466
The thing is, is he HAS been contributing.

If he doesn't, sit him. His contract isn't big enough to care. Sign him a small contract for a small term and see if he gets that. If he doesn't its not a big loss, if he does its a HUGE gain.

All of this. He's dirt cheap, and already exceeding most peoples' expectations of him so far. Let's see if he maintains it and stays healthy. But to say he still has to improve is ridiculous. At this pace he's more than worth his price, and to not want to re-sign that type of contribution would be nutty.
 

PeterSidorkiewicz

HFWF Tourney Undisputed Champion
Apr 30, 2004
32,442
9,701
Lansing, MI
We have tons of cap space, will probably need to reach the cap floor, and I doubt the UFA crop is going to be all that good. I say re-up him.
 

YNWA14

Onbreekbaar
Dec 29, 2010
34,543
2,560
some say irrational hate, some say obvious observations.

Nothing anyone has said here indicates they hate Latendresse. They are pointing out the deficiencies in his game that you overlook. If Latendresse was out of the line up right now would that be a huge loss?

I would certainly miss his 6 points in the last 8 games.
 

Tundraman

ModerationIsKey
Feb 13, 2010
11,678
1,528
North
I understand the health concerns but hope Lats is re-signed and I'd make it 3-5 years if he accepts an offer in the average range of $2.3 - $3.25M per season. That's not an overpayment for a big skilled guy who can play in the top 6.
 

Tuna99

Registered User
Sep 26, 2009
14,713
6,799
Big, unselfish, experienced, good scorer in close, likes being a Senator, good chemistry and a the big body we have needed in front of the net since Heatley stopped working out, I say we sign him.
 

Xspyrit

DJ Dorion
Jun 29, 2008
30,703
9,650
Montreal, Canada
Please Sens, just don't let the Habs benefit of Gui future regular input of + 25 goals/50 pts going forward

Latendresse-Spezza-Michalek
Zibanejad-Turris-Silfverberg

Should be our top-6 next year
 

ChocolateLeclaire

Registered User
Jan 12, 2010
12,042
2
Ottawa, Canada
I have been as critical as anyone of The Tender One since he was injured, but hearing on the radio how he took the time on IR to work with Chris Schwartz and get into better shape and improve his conditioning told me that this guy does care about being a contributing member of this team. He did this all while suffering from migraines and "whiplash". That kind of commitment won me over and I say sign him.

Plus as long as he's here, we keep getting to make fat jokes. He's our own Dustin Penner.
 

CanadianHockey

Smith - Alfie
Jul 3, 2009
30,547
513
Petawawa
twitter.com
Ottawa gave him a chance when other teams wouldn't.

He loves it here. He is close to his son and everyone is supportive.

Montreal is closer to his son, but I think he is developing some loyalty to Ottawa. Plus he is the go to guy for the French reporters in the Sens dressing room. That must be cool.

I don't necessarily think it's fair to say we gave him a chance when others didn't - he made it pretty clear he wanted to be close to his family, and that limited the teams he could go to to basically Ottawa and Montreal. I'm pretty sure Minny would've re-signed him if they had the chance.
 

Qward

Because! That's why!
Jul 23, 2010
18,930
5,897
Behind you, look out
I don't necessarily think it's fair to say we gave him a chance when others didn't - he made it pretty clear he wanted to be close to his family, and that limited the teams he could go to to basically Ottawa and Montreal. I'm pretty sure Minny would've re-signed him if they had the chance.

I will try to find the video. It was either sportsnet or TSN and they commented when Lats signed a lot of teams were too skeptical with his history of injuries to take a flyer on him.
 

Slack

everything's fine?
Apr 27, 2012
3,692
466
Please Sens, just don't let the Habs benefit of Gui future regular input of + 25 goals/50 pts going forward

Latendresse-Spezza-Michalek
Zibanejad-Turris-Silfverberg

Should be our top-6 next year

That line would be scary good in my mind, with each of them adding their respective abilities to the mix. :yo:

I have been as critical as anyone of The Tender One since he was injured, but hearing on the radio how he took the time on IR to work with Chris Schwartz and get into better shape and improve his conditioning told me that this guy does care about being a contributing member of this team. He did this all while suffering from migraines and "whiplash". That kind of commitment won me over and I say sign him.

Plus as long as he's here, we keep getting to make fat jokes. He's our own Dustin Penner.

Yep, seems like at this point he's hounded more by a previous reputation than what all current evidence points to now. He seems more fired up now than I ever recall seeing him in the past.
 

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