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Penguins Interested In Trading Kris Letang? What Are They Sniffing?


Sockeye

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Doh! Kris Letang has to be one of my all-time favorite, most energetic, most 'make-it-happen' kinda guys to come along in the past 10-15 years. Could these fools be serious?

 

 

Actually... it wouldn't be a foolish move.  They have a glutton of defensemen in the system.  There's a waiting list to play in the NHL right now with capable guys sitting in the AHL.  Letang is having a bit of an off time this season, and he's commanding a big paycheck and salary cap hit next season.  They could probably bring in some good talent in exchange and maybe address a scoring winger plus prospects.  

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Actually... it wouldn't be a foolish move.  They have a glutton of defensemen in the system.  There's a waiting list to play in the NHL right now with capable guys sitting in the AHL.  Letang is having a bit of an off time this season, and he's commanding a big paycheck and salary cap hit next season.  They could probably bring in some good talent in exchange and maybe address a scoring winger plus prospects.  

 

Any asset can be moved. The question is getting the best return on those assets.

 

Letang, especially given the Pens' defensive depth, his upcoming cap hit ($7.25M) and the premium placed on top defenseman is a very valuable asset and could bring significant return.

 

If we assume a $70M cap  next season, the Pens would have 36% of that wrapped up in three players (Malkin, Crosby, Letang). And capgeek has their signed players at $71.1M right now - with just 15 players signed.

 

Moving Letang could make a lot of sense. If they get back value for their asset.

Edited by radoran
misread CapGeek lines :)
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@radoran

CapGeek actually shows them with just over $15 million in space free next year with those 15 players signed. Shero is shrewd so it will be interesting to see what moves he makes. $15 million isn't a lot to play with but it's still room to breathe.

 

Drat I transposed the cap number with the expenditures. Yeah, it is better than I had thought.

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  I don't see it happen but with the emergence of Maatta and the cap hit that goes along with Letang and his obvious defensive deficiencies and the lack of blue liners available on the trading block, Letang could command a small fortune from the right club. a top six forward and a pick at the least as well as the cap relief would be huge for the Pens....

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I think Maatta is proving something I've been saying all along...Letang is a product of playing with 2 of the best players in the world. That 7.25 mil caphit isn't so bad when you're putting up 50 points. Of course put him on a team with David Legwand and Craig Smith and those numbers plummet. And when Maatta is putting up similiar numbers at one tenth the pricetag...

 

And it's not like you're paying Letang for his (lol) defence. Somebody might trade a nice package for Letang. If I'm Shero, I take it.

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I think Maatta is proving something I've been saying all along...Letang is a product of playing with 2 of the best players in the world.

I think Letang would excel offensively on any squad. The guy can skate. In my eyes he skates better than anyone on our team. Than most teams in fact. He doesn't have the strength on his skates a guy like Crosby does, but in pure finesse? He's amazing. His defense will always be suspect, but he's not a star because of Crosby and Malkin.

And Maatta's defensive efforts this year are no reflection of them either. If anything being on the ice with Malkin means you have to be better. He hasn't abandoned the Russian forward philosophy if "I play offense only".

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@Polaris922

 

I think Letang is a good offensive player. I think if you put him on a team without two of the best players in the world, his numbers will go down. Especially if you put him on a team like Nashville or Jersey with lame forwards. If you score fifty less goals than another team, your players are going to have less points. You can disagree, but you'd be wrong.

 

 Maatta's defence isn't helping his point production as much as Sid is. Or Malkin. And I'm not knocking Maatta. I wish we had him.

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@flyercanuck

I'll give you Sid is a help to any defenseman with how he back checks. Malkin I'll argue till the site shuts down. He is rarely inside our blue line unless its to take a breakout pass. Lol. But since you seem to be talking just about point production then yes I'll agree. I thought you meant overall play initially.

Edited by Polaris922
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