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Kris Letang

Pittsburgh Penguins Expect To Sign Kris Letang

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There wasn’t much hesitation in Ron Hextall today as he met with the media, explaining to reporters including Chris Johnston of TSN that he would be “surprised” if they didn’t sign Kris Letang to an extension. Hextall hopes to have it done by the time they leave Montreal, where the hockey world is congregating for tomorrow’s draft.

On Evgeni Malkin, the team’s other franchise icon closing in on unrestricted free agency, Hextall said they are “still working” but didn’t share any other details.

Letang, 35, is still an extremely effective player and is actually coming off the best offensive season of his career. With 68 points in 78 games, racking up a career-best 171 hits, and still averaging close to 26 minutes a night, he finished seventh in Norris Trophy voting.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is arguably more important to the Penguins than Malkin, at least in terms of this current championship window, as there is no internal option to fill the hole that Letang’s departure would leave. The team would have to look outside the organization, and players of his caliber obviously don’t hit the open market very often.

That’s also why a contract for Letang could still have a big number attached to it, meaning a multi-year extension carries quite a bit of risk for the Penguins. The team will be married to this aging core, meaning if he or Sidney Crosby takes a step back in effectiveness, any thought of contending for the Stanley Cup would likely go out the window.

Still, that’s likely the case even if Letang left in free agency, as the Penguins’ results are really tied to Crosby’s career at this point. Pushing in for a player you know and love–and also one who has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh–always did seem like the prudent option, even if it will mean committing lots of money to an aging talent.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Latest on Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have earmarked the 2022 offseason for years as a potential turning point for the franchise. Two-thirds of the core that has led the team to its lengthiest run of playoff success in franchise history, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, were scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency. In recent years, Bryan Rust has thrown his name onto the list of important Penguins with expiring contracts this season as well.

The team dealt with Rust, signing him to a long extension last month. Malkin and Letang remain unsigned with now less than a month remaining until free agency begins on July 13. However, The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that the organization’s top priority is signing Letang to a multi-year extension, according to multiple sources.

While the wording of that headline could raise some eyebrows, it’s unlikely that the inference the team truly prioritizes Letang over Malkin is accurate. It’s impossible to go into such a pivotal offseason without a plan of attack, and management needs an order of operations in order to manage their salary cap situation. The goal here is likely to figure out an average annual value for Letang as soon as possible so that they can make the appropriate salary cap moves to accommodate Malkin.

The last reported offer the Penguins made to Letang was “a little less” than his current cap hit of $7.25MM for four years, but that was almost a month ago now. If Letang signs for his current cap hit, Pittsburgh would be left with about $15.6MM in cap space this offseason, per CapFriendly. With that number, the Penguins would need to not only re-sign Malkin but also find a goalie to pair with Tristan Jarry and fill multiple spots at forward. It’s extremely doubtful they’d be able to make that work.

Really, all the Penguins are looking for at this point is some cost certainty. General manager Ron Hextall will need some time to make some cap-clearing trades work if necessary, but the team remains fully committed to retaining their core.

Penguins To Name Kevin Acklin President of Business Operations

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The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to overhaul their front office and management after a recent sale to Fenway Sports Group. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike DeFabo reports that the team is expected to name Kevin Acklin the team’s President of Business Operations, filling the role left by longtime executive David Morehouse.

Morehouse vacated the role two months ago when the CEO of 16 years stepped down, reportedly on his own terms.

As DeFabo notes, Acklin is an internal promotion. Since 2018, Acklin had been the team’s COO and general counsel. Similar to Morehouse, Acklin is a Pittsburgh native.

The changes in leadership come as the Penguins are set to embark on a tough road ahead over the next decade or so. As stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang age and/or leave the organization, the team will need strong leadership to avoid the business concerns the team has had in the past during periods of poor play. Acklin will now have a big part to play in that role, and his choices will have a significant effect on the team’s future.

East Notes: Giordano, Rust, Hextall

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Yesterday, Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano signed a two-year extension to remain in Toronto, an extension that was immediately characterized as being highly team-friendly in nature. It seems that the team-friendly nature of the extension was by design and by the request of Giordano himself. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the original deal between Giordano and Toronto was “around” $1MM AAV, but Giordano preferred to sign at around $200K lower than that offer in order to allow the Maple Leafs “go out and do something else to help [them] win.”

While $200,000 may seem like a relatively small amount within the grand scale of the NHL’s salary structure, one has to remember that it is a significant amount of money for any person. For Giordano to reportedly forgo that amount of money, a sum that he has rightfully earned with his play in Toronto, in order for his team to have a little extra wiggle room to add players is an incredibly generous gesture. Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said as much, referencing a “tremendous sacrifice” in Giordano’s contract negotiation process. The Maple Leafs have serious designs on competing for a Stanley Cup in the near future, and it now is evident that at least one of their players has quite literally bought into that vision.

Now, for some other notes regarding the league’s Eastern Conference teams:

  • The Penguins recently extended forward Bryan Rust on a six-year deal worth just over $5MM per year. Today, Penguins GM Ron Hextall had some other news regarding Rust, stating that the forward had undergone a “clean-up” surgery. Hextall downplayed the importance of the operation, stating that it was only a minor procedure and that Rust will be ready for the start of next season. Given the amount the team has now invested in Rust and his health, it’s important for Rust to be on the right health footing at the start of next season so the Penguins can hit the ground running on their next chance to win a Stanley Cup.
  • With the pending unrestricted free agencies of Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin looming, some believe that next season could be a transitional one for the Penguins, where they perhaps take a small step back from true contention in order to re-tool and extend their overall competitive window. Today, Hextall spoke on that idea and clarified the direction of the Penguins franchise. He stated, as relayed by Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that the team is going to “continue on trying to win the Stanley Cup,” and that their new owners, Fenway Sports Group, are “totally on board” with this all-in approach. Despite the contract uncertainty of Malkin and Letang, two players Hextall deemed “generational,” it looks as though the Penguins will not be embarking on the re-tool some fans believe they need and instead will be doubling down on their chance to win a Stanley Cup with their current core.

Update On Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang

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Earlier today Evgeni Malkin addressed his pending unrestricted free agency and future with the Pittsburgh Penguins, stating that he hopes to retire in Pittsburgh. For that to be possible, he must ink a contract extension with the only team he has ever known. Malkin, 35, has remained consistently productive as he has aged (42 points in 41 games this season) but has also struggled to remain in the lineup on a regular basis. So, his importance to the franchise and his strong production square up against the declining reliability of his health to make his upcoming contract situation an especially intriguing one.

Just as Malkin’s contract is expiring, so is the contract of another Penguins franchise icon: Kris Letang. Letang, who is also 35, is coming off a season where he posted a career-high in points (68) and managed to stay in the lineup for 78 games, his most since the 2017-18 season. With Malkin and Letang both up for new contracts, the Penguins’ front office (and new ownership group) has a fork-in-the-road opportunity to change the direction of the franchise.

Rob Rossi of The Athletic reported yesterday that the Penguins had offered Malkin and Letang matching three-year, $15MM extensions, offers that “did not sit well” with Sidney Crosby. While that is certainly a major development, if true, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added some context to the situation in his recent 32 Thoughts blog. Friedman supported Rossi’s reporting on the Penguins offering Malkin a three-year term on his extension, stating that the team has symmetry with the three years left on Sidney Crosby’s contract in mind. He also reported that Malkin’s camp and the Penguins were “far, far apart” on the actual dollar value of the extension, a separation that could make Malkin’s return more challenging.

As for Letang, Friedman reported that his offer was larger than the one mentioned in Rossi’s report. Friedman says that the “last he heard” was that Letang was offered a four-year contract carrying an average annual value just “a bit less” than his current AAV of $7.25MM. Given the annual values of contracts other high-end defensemen have received (Seth Jones, Darnell Nurse, and Dougie Hamilton, as comparables, got at least $9MM AAV on deals with significantly more term) it’s an open question as to whether that reported offer will be sufficient to retain Letang’s services.

Letang did say, per Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that his “main goal” is to stay in Pittsburgh, so perhaps he will not enter the market eyeing a deal comparable to those other elite defensemen. But one does have to keep in mind that this very well could be Letang’s last chance at a massive contract, due to his age. At the very least, it seems from Friedman’s reporting that while the Penguins are apparently undertaking an earnest effort to retain their two franchise legends, there are still obstacles in the way.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Ryan Lindgren, Brian Dumoulin Out For Game 2

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Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers will be missing a top-four defenseman for tonight’s Game 2. Brian Dumoulin is out for the Penguins, while Ryan Lindgren is out for the Rangers.

Dumoulin nearly hit 50 shifts in Game 1’s triple-overtime win, logging 36:35 of ice time, two shots, one hit, and one blocked shot. Making a name for himself as the longtime defense partner to Kris Letang, it’s likely Mike Matheson will slot in Dumoulin’s place on the top pair. Both Mark Friedman and Nathan Beaulieu took warmups for the Penguins, and one of them is expected to draw into the lineup.

Lindgren was banged up in the last game and was called a game-time decision with a lower-body injury this morning. He serves a very similar role as Dumoulin does in Pittsburgh, serving as the more defensively-inclined partner to Adam Fox. He didn’t quite hit 30 minutes of ice time in Game 1, struggling with the injury during the game. Justin Braun is drawing into the lineup, but it’s unclear how the pairs will look.

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Barclay Goodrow is also missing for the Rangers.

Penguins Notes: Forward Depth, Big Three, Drozg

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Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall spoke with the media today and touched on several subjects, including his trade deadline plans. While he feels “pretty good” about the team overall, he did mention that he would like to add to his forward group if possible. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic chimes in to specify that the Penguins are looking for a top-six scoring winger, one that comes with some term and is not an expiring contract.

There will be countless players linked to the Penguins in the coming days and it is important to note that the team has their first-round pick still, something the franchise has been notorious for dangling whenever they want to add talent. In fact, the Penguins have selected a player in the first round just twice since 2013, and one of those–Kasperi Kapanen–was traded before he ever played a game for the team, then bought back in another deal that included a first.

  • Hextall also touched on the big three pending free agents in Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust. “Geno” and “Tanger” are two of the team’s top priorities according to the front office executive, who hopes that they can work out a deal that works for both sides in all three cases. Just yesterday a report emerged on Letang’s negotiations, but things are much less clear with a player like Rust, who is in line for a huge raise over the $3.5MM cap hit he has carried the last four seasons. For quite some time now he’s been much more than the quality middle-six depth that signed that contract but there are still concerns over his durability that has limited him to just 36 games this year, and how the team will fit in all three with a salary cap that isn’t set to substantially increase for a little while longer.
  • Jan Drozg, in the final season of his three-year entry-level contract, has been loaned from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the Grand Rapids Griffins, AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. The 22-year-old has ten points in 23 games for the AHL Penguins this season but has played just once in the past month. At this point in his career, Drozg seems like a prime candidate to go unqualified in the offseason or head back to Europe to continue his development elsewhere. For now, his career takes him to Grand Rapids where he will hopefully get a bigger opportunity.

Update On Kris Letang

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have been possibly the most successful team of the salary cap era. Their core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang has brought the team three Stanley Cups and has kept them competitive for an entire generation of hockey. But as that core continues to age deeper into their thirties, there are more and more questions about how much longer the three can remain together as Penguins. Recently, there has been a focus on Letang specifically and his future with the team, given that he is a pending unrestricted free agent. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, Letang’s future in Pittsburgh is unclear.

Seravalli reports that there are “big gaps” between the team and the player, with the major sticking point being the term on Letang’s next contract. According to Seravalli’s sources, Letang’s representation is seeking a five-year deal with an average annual value beginning at $7MM, and the Penguins are “simply not willing” to even consider Letang on an extension that takes him to the point where he is nearing 40 years old. Letang is currently 34 and will be 35 by the time next season starts, meaning any extension for him carries a significant risk of becoming an albatross, despite how good Letang still is at the NHL level. For a Penguins team that is navigating which direction to go as a franchise long-term, it is understandable for their relatively new management team of Brian Burke and Ron Hextall to be wary of signing Letang to such a massive extension.

The Penguins expect to compete for a Stanley Cup this season, and that’s a very reasonable expectation. Coach Mike Sullivan has been brilliant, leading the squad to a safe position near the top of the Metropolitan Division standings. Letang has been a crucial part of this team’s success, as he typically has been. He has 49 points in 54 games, third on the team behind Crosby and Jake Guentzel, and those 49 points rank just outside the top-5 in defensive scoring league-wide. Letang is also averaging nearly 26 minutes of ice time this season and is the Penguins’ most important defenseman by a mile. Replacing Letang would be extremely difficult for the Penguins to do, and if they have any intentions of competing for a Stanley Cup for the rest of  Crosby’s contract (expires after 2024-2025) they will need to have a defenseman like Letang. So those on-ice factors combined with Letang’s importance to the Pittsburgh hockey market in general (he is nearing his 1000th NHL game and has spent his entire career with the Penguins) make his contract situation an incredibly tricky one for Burke and Hextall to navigate. But if Seravalli’s report is any indication, some major changes could be coming to a Penguins’ core that has been the heart of the franchise for a generation of fans.

Snapshots: China, Malkin, Letang, Viveiros

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China has revealed the roster that will take part in the upcoming Olympics, a group that includes 12 players born in North America. Some of those have NHL experience in the past, including Spencer Foo, Ryan Sproul, and starting goaltender Jeremy Smith. These players are allowed to participate even without Chinese heritage given how long they have been playing for Kunlun Red Star in the KHL, which served as a proxy for the national team, according to the Associated Press.

Brandon Yip, a 36-year-old forward that played nearly 200 games in the NHL, will serve as captain of the club, which gained entry to the tournament as host nation. Yip scored 32 goals and 62 points in his 190-game NHL career, which ended after the 2013-14 season. After a stint in the AHL and another in Germany, he joined Kunlun in 2017. China will be in tough at the event, as they find themselves in a group with the U.S., Canada, and Germany. They open the tournament on February 10.

  • When Jeff Carter’s two-year extension was announced yesterday, some immediately wondered what it meant for Evgeni Malkin’s future with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that representatives for the star forward and Penguins GM Ron Hextall have discussed a new contract, and Malkin is “eager” to remain in Pittsburgh. For teammate Kris Letang things aren’t so rosy, as the defenseman believes he will get a raise on the current $7.25MM cap hit he currently carries, according to Yohe.
  • Henderson Silver Knights coach Manny Viveiros has been medically cleared to return to his duties, effective immediately. Viveiros was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and has been away from the team for much of the season. In a statement, the veteran coach notes that his “prognosis is very good” and thanks his family, coaches, players, medical team, and Golden Knights organization for all the support he received over the past few months.

Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Bryan Rust Off Injured Reserve

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The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to slowly work their way back towards full health, activating right wing Bryan Rust from injured reserve today per a team release.

Rust was placed on injured reserve on October 16 after playing in just two games. He’ll undoubtedly return to the team’s top line, which currently consists of Jake Guentzel and Jeff Carter as captain Sidney Crosby remains in COVID-19 protocol.

It’s been a rocky start to the season for Pittsburgh, who have dealt with injuries to every single one of their core players this season. Evgeni Malkin has yet to play, Crosby’s played in just one game, Carter’s played only six, Kris Letang has played five, and Guentzel has missed one game out of a possible nine.

They’ve been buoyed early by a resurgent start from goaltender Tristan Jarry, who’s managed a .930 save percentage in seven games this season.

Dominik Simon, who’s averaged just 10:40 per game this season despite scoring four points in eight games, is a likely candidate to sit in the press box to make room for Rust in the lineup.

Rust returns to full health aiming to score 20 goals for the third straight season as he enters the final season of a four-year deal paying him $3.5MM per season. He’s set to earn a sharp raise on that deal, regardless of his home next season.

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