If Ovechkin was up against Crosby, Latendresse and Brule in 04 I think they would go Crosby, Ovechkin, Brule then Latendresse.
If Ovechkin was up against Crosby, Latendresse and Brule in 05 I think they would go Crosby, Latendresse, Ovechkin then Brule.
Of the 4 Latendresse is the most physical and Crosby is obviously the best offensively but both Latendresse and Crosby are "WAY" underrated defensively because they are both 16 and playing in the Q, when in fact they both lead their teams in plus/minus and Crosby lead the whole Q in plus/minus on a per game basis (he missed games for the WJC's). Crosby and his linemate Jeff Tambellini were the only Canadians not on the ice for a goal against even strength or otherwise at the WJC's although that was half a "career" ago if you consider Crosby's Junior career so far.
Brule's offensive stats are similar to Latendresse but his plus/minus are average (around 0, which is repectable for a 17 year od rookie but not outstanding). He is given credit for playing in the tough "W" but if Latendresse at 16 played in the "W" it would be a tougher league still.
That being said Ovechkin "does" play in a "men's" league against more mature players, although, to it's credit, I doubt it is as dirty as the NHL or the CHL leagues in terms of cheap shots. This should help Ovechkin when he reaches the NHL as taking cheap shots to the head does "NOT" make it easier to take more cheap shots in the future. Ovechkin may be the best player of the 4 as it stands today. However he's more than a year older than Brule, and more than a year and a half older than Latendresse and Crosby (almost 2 years). Ovechkin is as "old as you get" while still being "04 draft elligible (first year elligible age), while Crosby is as"young as you get" while still being "05 draft elligible".