Post-Game Talk: 0-2 in the Mulligan era

[Will Hunting]

Could be due to the system itself needing a minute eating defenseman capable of carrying the puck. Letang has been awful this year.

Yeah, but he´s our only hope there. Even if he looks bad, the team is still better with him. Without him, all of the players are forced to play the roles that they can´t handle.

 

[Koempel]

Letang´s hate is weird. Guy is injury-prone and not a good PP QB, but tell about him what you want, one thing is for sure. This team can´t win without him.

Letang is at the very least a very good #2. He is not criticized for his flaws, but for his inability to stay healthy. We know from various media reports that the guy is a fitness freak and it seems rather unlikely in that regard that he does not live like a professional. Additionally, the type of injuries are all over the place, but some of them are definitely related to him being bad at evading hits (yes this is a talent, Malkin often seems to have a sixth sense regarding incoming players). Recently, several have noted that most of his play is based on his athletic abilities. Combining his injury-proneness and his playing style I am very much conflicted. He is definitely essential to the Penguins' success, but the hole he creates when he misses games is a big issue. It is a complex situation for Penguins' management, since his trade value must be reasonably low because of those same concerns. When you look at #1 D-men of good teams, they rarely miss time.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Criticizing a guy's shortcomings, and thinking this team would be better with the return he'd get than with Letang himself is not hate. Surely people realize that.

 

[Son Goku]

Letang is without a doubt a #1 D man and at the top of his game there are only a hand full on par or better. It's a stretch to call him a #2.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Letang is without a doubt a #1 D man and at the top of his game there are only a hand full on par or better. It's a stretch to call him a #2.

Uh, I'd say it's quite a few more than a handful.

Weber, Keith, Subban, Karlsson, Doughty, Pietrangelo, Burns, Josi, Giordano, OEL, Suter, Hedman

All of those guys are better than Letang either overall, or they excel at a specific aspect.

 

[Son Goku]

Uh, I'd say it's quite a few more than a handful.

Weber, Keith, Subban, Karlsson, Doughty, Pietrangelo, Burns, Josi, Giordano, OEL, Suter, Hedman

All of those guys are better than Letang either overall, or they excel at a specific aspect.

And there's 30 teams in the league.. How is he not a number one?

 

[wolffy66]

Uh, I'd say it's quite a few more than a handful.

Weber, Keith, Subban, Karlsson, Doughty, Pietrangelo, Burns, Josi, Giordano, OEL, Suter, Hedman

All of those guys are better than Letang either overall, or they excel at a specific aspect.

Letang is as good as a few of those guys. And even if he wasn't that's not that many guys as far as a list of better d.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

And there's 30 teams in the league.. How is he not a number one?

Explain to me where I said he wasn't a #1. I took issue with you saying there was only a handful of defensemen in the league better than Letang.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Letang's phenomenal skating makes up for the fact that he is otherwise simply a pretty good offensive Dman. He's very good, but there is no comparison between he and the best defensemen in the game. Most of them are just far more well-rounded.

 

[Jacob]

Letang's phenomenal skating makes up for the fact that he is otherwise simply a pretty good offensive Dman. He's very good, but there is no comparison between he and the best defensemen in the game. Most of them are just far more well-rounded.

Taking away any player's best asset is going to render them pretty average. Remove Keith's elite skating ability and the same applies.

 

[pistolpete11]

Criticizing a guy's shortcomings, and thinking this team would be better with the return he'd get than with Letang himself is not hate. Surely people realize that.

Exactly this. I wanted them to trade Letang before they signed him to that deal. Now, it would be tough to do unless you find a way to bring in at least 1 top pairing defenseman somehow which is obviously difficult to do. They missed their time to trade Letang IMO.

 

[pistolpete11]

Letang is as good as a few of those guys. And even if he wasn't that's not that many guys as far as a list of better d.

He also makes more money than some of those guys and is hurt more than most, if not all, of those guys.

 

[Son Goku]

Letang's phenomenal skating makes up for the fact that he is otherwise simply a pretty good offensive Dman. He's very good, but there is no comparison between he and the best defensemen in the game. Most of them are just far more well-rounded.

I can agree with this. I dunno, to me he just has everything to be in that upper echelon of defenseman he just has the hockey IQ of a cheese grater.

 

[UnderratedBrooks44]

Taking away any player's best asset is going to render them pretty average. Remove Keith's elite skating ability and the same applies.

Not it doesn't. Keith could still shoot the puck well, play solid defense, and anchor a D pair. That's the difference.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Yeah. Letang lives and dies by his skating, that's it. His positioning isn't great, but he's got wheels so it makes up for it a lot of the time. His passing isn't good by any stretch, so his transition game relies entirely on his ability to skate the puck out of the defensive zone. He's atrocious on the PP, because it relies on things other than his skating. He's terrible with snap decisions, he over-thinks things too much with and without the puck.

No, he's not a terrible player. No, I don't hate him. I just think he's vastly overrated, not worth his contract to this team, and we'd be better off with the return we'd get if we packaged him for a replacement plus depth.

 

[Koempel]

And there's 30 teams in the league.. How is he not a number one?

He is one of the best 30 D-men in the league. There might be 30 D-men I would prefer over him though. That is purely based on his injuries and my fear this will be a common occurrence. However, it is too late to get fair value. Outside of some unrealistic trade, it seems all that is left is hoping he gets and stays healthy.

 

[Shady Machine]

Taking away any player's best asset is going to render them pretty average. Remove Keith's elite skating ability and the same applies.

You know what he meant though. He is saying aside from elite skating, he doesn't have other attributes of elite #1 dmen. Without Keith's skating, he still has great hockey sense, poise with the puck, ability to get shots through to the net, a mean streak, etc.

 

[Shady Machine]

Self admittedly will defend Kris Letang critics as we all know to points that are borderline ridiculous.

I also think he is a major catalyst of his team and the way his play has gone over the past five years is pretty much how our entire defense group goes.

For sure. I mean this team really needs Letang. I don't think that says as much about Letang as it says about the rest of this blueline. Without Letang, it's bad.

Take away Crosby and you have Malkin, Bones, Cullen, Fehr at center. Same for Malkin. Take away Kessel and you have Perron, Hornqvist, Sprong, Plots, etc.

The only player that is needed as badly as Letang is Fleury and at least we have Murray in the wings. There is no Letang replacement in the near future. The Pens forced themselves to need him for any amount of success. It didn't have to be this way, but they did it to themselves.

 

[joeyjake5]

Whether you consider Letang a #1 or #2 D is immaterial. He still remains the pens #1 D taking into consideration all his pluses and minuses.

His trade value now is greatly reduced than what it was prior to the stroke. With his contract and injury history, pens won't get back equal value if traded. Pens would have to take back salary and get in return a player of lesser value. He would be a big gamble for any team to take on his contract and medical/injury history.

Having said all of this, Letang is still very important to the pens as long as he can play at least up to 80% of when he was playing at his best. Like him or not he still remains the pens best PMD.

 

[pucks1]

I decided to start watching other teams due to my discuss of the Penguins right now. I watched the Hawks dominate the Oilers..( I know it’s the Oilers) but man it was a fun team to watch. The way they pass, the stickhandling, the open ice, the positioning… I forgot what real skill looks like. Kane is unreal, he backs defenders off with ease due to his speed. Even when he is coasting defenders are doggin it just to stay with him… reminded me of Sid back in the day…sad