Confirmed with Link: Penguins re-sign Letang to six-year, $36.6m deal

[molon labe]

Looking at Letang's $6.1 million AAV is still just mind boggling to me.

He makes like $1.2 million more than Matheson does.

I mean Matheson was overpaid from day 1 of that contract.....but I agree to the premise. It's a ridiculous cap hit and tells me that he wants to win AND is comfortable in Pittsburgh. Friends / family etc.

 

[Fenrir009]

Will Letang still be playing in 6 years?

I don't see the long-term benefit of keeping this aging core together.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Very good signing, both term and cap hit. Letang even at 40 will be worth 6.1.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Will Letang still be playing in 6 years?

I don't see the long-term benefit of keeping this aging core together.

If he retires, the Pens stash him on LTIR. In the meantime, they get a top end defensemen for under market value.

 

[Fordy]

all i care about is letang and malkin retiring here

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Legitimately blown away the team got him down to $6.1 million AAV. He'll either be LTIRetired for the final year or two, or he'll just be a guy helping to reach cap floor when the team's in the dumpster.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

all i care about is letang and malkin retiring here

But muh logo! You need to be a REAL fan and root for the jersey or something!

 

[HandshakeLine]

Since Kev hates it, I naturally love it.

 

[Genetic]

Beautiful. Really hoping this means both Geno and Rakell are staying...

 

[Freeptop]

Absolutely, many teams aptly compete, go far in the playoffs and win cups when their key players are 36 years old, Happens all the time, Lets GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whether or not the Pens re-signed Letang or Malkin, I don't think the chances were good for them to win the Cup in the next 3 years. However, with Crosby and Guentzel, I also didn't think the chances were good that they'd be getting a high draft pick, either. I would argue that their chances of winning the Cup again are higher with Letang and Malkin than without.
So, for the next three years, the options are basically:
1. Keep Letang and Malkin, which keeps a large segment of the fanbase happy and paying to come to games, and take a chance on getting another Cup, or at least potentially some longer runs.
2. Let them go, and likely only barely squeak into the playoffs, thus still getting a bottom-half of the draft pick, while losing more fans, and still going out early.

I don't see the Pens realistically doing either of the following in the next 3 years:
1. Re-tool in a way that makes them true Cup Contenders - there's no real framework for that to be the case at this point.
2. Tearing it all down and tanking to high draft picks, thus allowing for a short rebuild and return to Cup contention; I don't think Crosby will really let that happen, and there's no guarantee of a quick turnaround even if they do - those high draft picks might turn out to be Yakupovs and Stefans, after all.

The team is still built around Crosby. There's no true rebuild until that's no longer the case. And when that's no longer the case, it's going to be painful, pretty much no matter what.

So if he retires what happens?

Are we only free of cap penalty if it's an injury/condition like Hossa?

What if he bailed after next year?

If he retires, the Pens are on the hook for the full cap hit. But Letang gets none of the money for those remaining years. So there's a definite financial incentive for Letang to go the LTIR right, similar to Hossa, if he decides he's done before the contract is up.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Lol at the boomers mad that the team is getting old and irrelevant, like them.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Lol at the boomers mad that the team is getting old and irrelevant, like them.

What I am wondering from the feet-stamping crowd is what THEIR plan would be?

I just keep hearing "blow it up" like that's ever going to be a thing with Sid flippin' Crosby on the team. "Go out and rebuild the team" -- with what? How? Free agency isn't like you're the only player in the game and you can just take your little wishlist to the player store and buy all the best ones at whatever the pricetag says.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Still on cloud 9.

Won't lie this signing is great.

Also I completely forgot we signed Rust already. What a great cap hit. No idea how Hextall managed that.

I would hope the next move is to move out Dumoulin.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Lol at the boomers mad that the team is getting old and irrelevant, like them.

I'm already old so I get to complain about whatever the hell I want

 

[Honour Over Glory]

What I am wondering from the feet-stamping crowd is what THEIR plan would be?

I just keep hearing "blow it up" like that's ever going to be a thing with Sid flippin' Crosby on the team. "Go out and rebuild the team" -- with what? How? Free agency isn't like you're the only player in the game and you can just take your little wishlist to the player store and buy all the best ones at whatever the pricetag says.

I mean blowing it up makes zero sense when you keep a coach that would still find ways to use vets over youth. So if you have an absolute wanker of a coach that is rocking a hard on for vets all the time and you have an ownership that adores him, all you will get is vets.

For me the issue is there's only one D that works with Letang and it's Dumoulin and Dumoulin has sucked hard for 2 seasons now. So if they're going to keep him too, nothing will progress. Just a bunch of blokes happy to see Letang back but don't see the bigger picture of issues.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I'm all for trading Dumo, tbh, and using some of that cap savings to sign a legit top 4 LD who can thump.

 

[Andy99]

What I am wondering from the feet-stamping crowd is what THEIR plan would be?

I just keep hearing "blow it up" like that's ever going to be a thing with Sid flippin' Crosby on the team. "Go out and rebuild the team" -- with what? How? Free agency isn't like you're the only player in the game and you can just take your little wishlist to the player store and buy all the best ones at whatever the pricetag says.

i mean the GM can’t even trade the overpaid deadweight contracts on this team and they expect him to ace a rebuild? Lol

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

Well, for the first 2 years of the deal, he got exactly that.

Yes, but Rossi said terms being discussed were at least 4 to 5 years at that AAV. Again, this wasn't a Rossi slam at all; rather, it was an indication how surprisingly economical this deal proved to be.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I mean blowing it up makes zero sense when you keep a coach that would still find ways to use vets over youth. So if you have an absolute wanker of a coach that is rocking a hard on for vets all the time and you have an ownership that adores him, all you will get is vets.

For me the issue is there's only one D that works with Letang and it's Dumoulin and Dumoulin has sucked hard for 2 seasons now. So if they're going to keep him too, nothing will progress. Just a bunch of blokes happy to see Letang back but don't see the bigger picture of issues.

I'm pretty much just resigned to Sullivan at this point. I think it's kind of crazy that the guy is still sitting pretty after four years of sweeps, 3-1 blown leads and otherwise rather inglorious first round exits but there it is.

I'm wary re: Dumo, too. But I think another passable partner could be found for him if they are willing to make some changes on their backend.

i mean the GM can’t even trade the overpaid deadweight contracts on this team and they expect him to ace a rebuild? Lol

Right. For good or ill Hex is a patient, measured guy. Do we really see him making massive sweeping changes to vastly change the landscape of this team? I mean aside from lowballing Malkin and shrugging?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Dumo's cooked. Injuries took away most of the dude's only physical attribute; skating. Sooner he's gone, the better.

 

[SomeDude]

It sounds like Letang's deal is going to be structured similar to Rust's. Front loaded on salary and little to no trade protection the last couple of years. Makes it attractive to whatever bottom feeder will need to get to the floor at that point where they save actual dollars vs cap hit. Again, FSG is showing they will pay up now to get stuff done when all the Massholes told us to expect penny pinching.

Clearly the plan is to get the most cap space possible right now and go all in the next 2-3 years and then nuke the whole thing. I dig it.

 

[Josey Wales]

Letang's Contract I had a Drs. Appt. checkup so I don't know if anyone put this up 8, 8, 6.2, 4.8, 4.8, 4.8.

 

[SomeDude]

Letang's Contract I had a Drs. Appt. checkup so I don't know if anyone put this up 8, 8, 6.2, 4.8, 4.8, 4.8.

Also - NMC years 1-4 and modified NTC the final 2 years. Haven't seen confirmation on what the terms of the NTC will be, but hopefully its only like a 5 team list or something.

 

[Turin]

Dumo's cooked. Injuries took away most of the dude's only physical attribute; skating. Sooner he's gone, the better.

He wouldn’t be the first player to bounce back from a bad season

 

[HandshakeLine]

Also - NMC years 1-4 and modified NTC the final 2 years. Haven't seen confirmation on what the terms of the NTC will be, but hopefully its only like a 5 team list or something.

He's given a 5 team list, but all 5 places have to be Montreal. Tabarnak!