Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldthorpe
Maybe the guy who was potting goals like crazy for weeks until he injured his wrist again is the real Pouliot. Maybe it's Latendresse who will return back to form next year.
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Maybe so, but that doesn't seem very likely. Consider: for all the hype about how much better he's been doing in Minnesota, these are Latendresse's production-per-icetime numbers, 5-on-5 for last year and this year:
08-09 MTL: 1.08 ESG/60, 1.80 ESP/60
09-10 MIN: 1.15 ESG/60, 1.81 ESP/60
Notice any similarities?
Latendresse is
not playing better for Minnesota than he did for Montreal. He's merely receiving ice time commensurate to his production and his abilities, including high-quality power play icetime. And so his counting numbers improved... even though, proportionally, he did not (much). He was always very good for Montreal, it's just that his coach and his fans have been utterly unable to recognize it -- possibly because he's not a very elegant skater.
Meanwhile, Pouliot had never been able to crack the Minnesota roster as a NHL regular before this year. He was very hot for Montreal once he came back from injury (to his credit -- he even slightly exceeded Latendresse's numbers listed above!). But now he's gone back to being completely useless.
So let me ask you this. You say Latendresse might "return to form". Except that this
is his form. Why would Latendresse's number dip for the level he's held them for 3 years? He's had a bad spell for the Habs, playing for Martin, and then once he was traded,
that was when he returned to form.
Meanwhile Pouliot had a very strong streak when he came over from Minnesota, and understand, I don't want to undersell how
good he's been over that stretch, a stretch over which he actually outdid Latendresse. The problem is that that's the aberration for him, career-wise. What we see now is him "returning to form", too. Hopefully the real Pouliot is the guy who completes Gomez and Gionta so well, not the befuddled player who gets caught out of position all the time... but if history is any guide, it's not something I'd bet on.
At best this trade is a push. At worst -- and I'm really afraid that's what we're seeing here -- this is basically Montreal giving away a very good young player. I hope it works out, but this is a trade that shouldn't have been made.