Kris Letang - Is he worth his new contract?

[Will Hunting]

His contract is getting to Clarkson´s territory. Absolutely awful. We have 16M thrown in Letang, Scuderi & Fleury.

Letang is soo bad when he´s trying to make a play right now. It seems like he´s not even trying to make a play anymore because he´s scared of an another monumental mistake. He´s got zero points in these playoffs while he took multiple stupid penalties and had multiple defensive breakdowns. His offense is absolutely non-existent right now because he´s so scared. I can´t remember single offensive play that he´s made in this series. He´s also injury-prone as hell and his future is in jeopardy with that stroke.

Yeah, Shero could´ve traded him this summer while Letang still´ve had nice value. Shero re-signed him into a godawful contract instead and now we are basically doomed with this player and his contract. Another example of Shero´s brutal summer.

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[Fire Shero*]

This was the summer of incompetence for Shero. Far worse than the thumb up butt Parise debacle.

 

[Will Hunting]

Yeah. For me, Shero is the most responsible for our horrible situation now. Letang´s unwillingness to go for offense is sad now. Maybe he´s not hurting the team as much when he´s playing this way, but c´mon.. We are talking about a 7.25M-ish D-man here. He´s playing like an average 3rd pair journeyman.

 

[themethod7]

This was the summer of incompetence for Shero. Far worse than the thumb up butt Parise debacle.

I know right, I can't figure out why he didn't literally hold a gun to Parise's head until he signed a contract, what a joke!!

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

At this point, Letang's season is a write-off. Unless we get blown away by a deal bringing us an absolutely ideal winger for Sid, you consider this year an aberration and see how he responds next year.

 

[Lim Ran]

That's really all you can do.

 

[themethod7]

At this point, Letang's season is a write-off. Unless we get blown away by a deal bringing us an absolutely ideal winger for Sid, you consider this year an aberration and see how he responds next year.

You get your god damn logic outta here, can't we see this an anti-Letang **********???

I swear this board bans the weirdest things.

 

[eXile59]

This was the summer of incompetence for Shero. Far worse than the thumb up butt Parise debacle.

He offered him a bunch of money & Sid even called him? He was going to Minnesota no matter what. What else was he suppose to do?

Criticizing him for his drafting and resigning of players okay but asking him to control other peoples free will is asinine.

 

[Fire Shero*]

I know right, I can't figure out why he didn't literally hold a gun to Parise's head until he signed a contract, what a joke!!

Going into the season with Eric ****ing Tangradi in the top 6 was brilliant. It's his job to ***** his chances of landing a guy like Parise. His backup plan? Wait to see if the coyotes move and sign Doan if the other 10 teams he was interested in didnt sign him.

Come on

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

At this point, Letang's season is a write-off. Unless we get blown away by a deal bringing us an absolutely ideal winger for Sid, you consider this year an aberration and see how he responds next year.

Letang's just been so off since he's returned. In the past, even when he was going through games committing silly brainfarts, he still added a bit of a dynamic offensive attack to sort of balance it out. Since his return, he's still got the brainfarts but is a complete non-factor offensively.

If he's not 100% or not feeling up to playing his game, he should still be out. We've got two defensemen sitting on the sidelines who could be bigger assets than what Letang is currently bringing.

At this point in time, would our defense really be any worse if both Letang and Scuderi sat and Despres and Bortuzzo played instead?

 

[Fire Shero*]

He offered him a bunch of money & Sid even called him? He was going to Minnesota no matter what. What else was he suppose to do?

Criticizing him for his drafting and resigning of players okay but asking him to control other peoples free will is asinine.

Gotta love his all eggs in one basket no backup approach. Shrewd.

 

[Will Hunting]

I was extremely tolerant for Letang´s mistakes for years. His offense was that good. Now? Does he even know what "offense" means? Complete non-factor. Yeah, Bortuzzo & Despres can´t be any worse than Letang & Scuderi right now.

 

[joeyjake5]

At this point, Letang's season is a write-off. Unless we get blown away by a deal bringing us an absolutely ideal winger for Sid, you consider this year an aberration and see how he responds next year.

prior to this year, Letang was worth resigning at about 6 yrs at 6MM not for 8 yrs. at 7.25MM. RS overpaid for him. With his regressive play this year, his contract and medical issues, IMO he is untradeable and the Pens are stuck with him unless by some major miracle his play dramatically improves.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

He offered him a bunch of money & Sid even called him? He was going to Minnesota no matter what. What else was he suppose to do?

Criticizing him for his drafting and resigning of players okay but asking him to control other peoples free will is asinine.

I think what he takes issue with is that Shero banked on Parise signing here, had absolutely zero backup plans, and waited far too long to start putting feelers out elsewhere. Something he's done far too often, actually.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I think what he takes issue with is that Shero banked on Parise signing here, had absolutely zero backup plans, and waited far too long to start putting feelers out elsewhere. Something he's done far too often, actually.

This is actually my biggest issue with Shero. It seems like when he does target someone big, that's his one and only plan. No fall back option in case that player doesn't sign.

It's like, either we land Zach Parise or we default to a player like Kobasew as the only FA acquisition. No in between.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Man, if you think Letang's contract looks anywhere near as bad as Clarkson's, you need to take some deep breaths.

 

[Will Hunting]

Man, if you think Letang's contract looks anywhere near as bad as Clarkson's, you need to take some deep breaths.

Not yet, but, but.. I can´t He´s making far more money than Clarkson and is injury-prone as hell. The stroke threat is there. Hís defense is as average as ever and his offense is non-existent. He´s playing like an average 2.5M-ish 3rd pair guy right now. It´s really getting downhill, so fast.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Letang's just been so off since he's returned. In the past, even when he was going through games committing silly brainfarts, he still added a bit of a dynamic offensive attack to sort of balance it out. Since his return, he's still got the brainfarts but is a complete non-factor offensively.

If he's not 100% or not feeling up to playing his game, he should still be out. We've got two defensemen sitting on the sidelines who could be bigger assets than what Letang is currently bringing.

At this point in time, would our defense really be any worse if both Letang and Scuderi sat and Despres and Bortuzzo played instead?

Nope, because both have sucked.

prior to this year, Letang was worth resigning at about 6 yrs at 6MM not for 8 yrs. at 7.25MM. RS overpaid for him. With his regressive play this year, his contract and medical issues, IMO he is untradeable and the Pens are stuck with him unless by some major miracle his play dramatically improves.

No, that really has no comparable in terms of Letang's age and production. It's just an arbitrary number that you think he should make, and he consequently would have left in FA.

We'd have plenty of suitors if we decided to trade him, because PMDs are at a premium and he has a track record of being the most dynamic defenseman this side of Karlsson. One year doesn't erase that, it just means teams would be looking to buy low. Any way you slice it, signing Letang was better than not signing him.

 

[Malkin4Top6Wingerz]

At this point, Letang's season is a write-off. Unless we get blown away by a deal bringing us an absolutely ideal winger for Sid, you consider this year an aberration and see how he responds next year.

Yeah, this. His recent play has to be taken with a grain of salt given the injury he just recovered from.

Of course, if nothing changes next year this is going to be a really problematic situation. People looking to dump this all on Shero need to have some perspective, though. This was one of the flukiest injuries any athlete has ever been through. If Shero had let him walk or looked to trade him there would be a ton of criticism levied in his direction had Letang plugged up some of the leaks in his game and developed into a consistent force. Generally with a player of that caliber you pay them and hope that the natural maturation process kicks in at some point and their full potential is realized. Worst case scenario in a non-stroke world is that Letang is overpaid by $1m or so, and as each year goes by and the cap goes up along with his continued evolvement as a pro that number shrinks.

 

[yankeesdynsty*]

This was the summer of incompetence for Shero. Far worse than the thumb up butt Parise debacle.

I just wanna say I like your username, FIRE Shero!!!!!!! I agree!

 

[yankeesdynsty*]

I say Letang's contract is a joke just like he is & it would be a joke even if he was an offensive D-Man. He is not worth that much money & now b/c of Shero Pens are probably stuck with him & his contract.

 

[penguins2946*]

You have a tough choice here:

1. Move him at the draft when his value is low before his NMC kicks in
2. Move him in the future when his NMC is in effect
3. Keep him and pray that he returns to his past form

If we move him, either way we'll get less than Letang's true value. However, Letang may suck even worse and we'll be stuck with him. Tough choice, I'd do 1.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

We'd have plenty of suitors if we decided to trade him, because PMDs are at a premium and he has a track record of being the most dynamic defenseman this side of Karlsson. One year doesn't erase that, it just means teams would be looking to buy low. Any way you slice it, signing Letang was better than not signing him.

I think his value is entirely dependent on whether or not those potential suitors have faith in his health holding up, regardless of his return to competition and doctors saying he's healthy. I think that'll suppress his trade value a bit until he plays a mostly healthy season or two.

He could still easily be traded because a lot of teams would probably still give up something decent even if they viewed it as taking a flyer. I just think his ability to be a key piece in a problem-solving megadeal is compromised right now. But that's not something one can blame on Shero.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Wait, why is anyone mad about Parise?

The guy wanted to go to Minnesota no matter what, just like Hamhuis wanted to go to Vancouver no matter what and the Flyers and Pens wasted their time.

 

[MtlPenFan]

My issue with him will always be his hockey IQ. Always.