Confirmed Signing with Link: [PIT] Penguins re-sign D Kris Letang (6 years, $6.1M AAV)

[Over the volcano]

Woof

 

[molon labe]

He's more fit than most 25 year old athletes. The comments on HF rival Twitter which is surprising. People don't know jack about this guy, the NHL salary cap, or the Penguins as they stand in 2022.

Letang at 40, 41 - if he's still playing, and we're not competing - might have value retained to a contender or as a mentor on another team. Not like he'll be unmovable. Which is irrelevant as the whole point is AAV in the cap world.

The only reason we were ready to dismiss him - was that at 8.5 -9, 9.5 aav even in short term he'd be prohibitive to the team. At 6M this has the potential to make the team more competitive than last year.

 

[biturbo19]

Yeah. Fair enough. Great cap hit for an Elite defenceman. And who actually cares what happens in like 2026 or whatever. The GM that signed this will be long gone, Crosby will be retired and the Penguins will be "rebuilding" in some form or other.

In the meantime, they keep an elite defenceman around for whatever is left of their "window". At a cap bargain. Sounds great to me.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Woof is looking at Erik Karlsson's contract until he's 36...

 

[LeapOnOver]

Not sure if "Penguin for Life" is the best headline.
The future headline: Jun 7th, 2026 - Trade announcement - Kris Letang and the 15th OA in this years draft was traded to Seattle for future considerations.

Honestly though, Pitt fans are probably okay with this as they'll get 3 maybe 4 more good years out of him.

 

[Extra Texture]

6 years? That's cray!
Malkin gone now?

If anything, I think this makes Malkin re-signing more likely. Not just financially, but from the player's perspective too.

Please go back and look at his career and tell me how much time he misses

He was looking at his uniform number and got confused.

 

[ponder]

6 years for a 35 year old with a major injury history seems like an absolutely atrocious deal.

 

[TheStatican]

100% agree. All the Pens fans think it's great cuz they'll just LTIR him in the end. But what if he doesn't wanna retire? What if if he wants to play it out?

So what? You really think we'll care if he still wants to play when the team will be rebuilding? Seriously give your head a shake

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

6 years for a 35 year old with a major injury history seems like an absolutely atrocious deal.

$6.1 million per year for a defenseman who's finished top 10 in Norris voting 3 out of the last 4 seasons, set a career high in points with 68 last year, and who has averaged close to 25 minutes per night for the bulk of his prime seems like a steal.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

So he's going to get $6.1MM to play for 4 years then $6.1MM on LTIRed for the last 2 year so it's actually $9.1MM AAV

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

So he's going to get $6.1MM to play for 4 years then $6.1MM on LTIRed for the last 2 year so it's actually $9.1MM AAV

Highly doubt he gets out on LTIR. Letang’s a warrior, one of the most well conditioned players in the league, still a top 15 defenseman. He’s going to finish his contract.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Not sure if "Penguin for Life" is the best headline.
The future headline: Jun 7th, 2026 - Trade announcement - Kris Letang and the 15th OA in this years draft was traded to Seattle for future considerations.

Honestly though, Pitt fans are probably okay with this as they'll get 3 maybe 4 more good years out of him.

It is way more likely the Pens will need Letang’s cap hit in 2026 to meet the cap floor, than them being in some kind of desperate need to be rid of it.

Based on his maniacal workouts, I highly suspect he will still be a very legit top four guy right through this entire deal… and he will agree to be traded to a contender in the last year or two of his deal.

Just have a strong feeling Letang helps another team make a big run or two before he hangs them up for good.

 

[Flying Dego]

6 years for a 35 year old with a major injury history seems like an absolutely atrocious deal.

He played near all the games last year, close to top minutes averaged among the league...

The guy is fine. I appreciate every other teams fans concerns about the deal but it really made sense. He'll be a #1 for 2-3 more years after that our team will likely take a steep decline so the back end hardly matters.

I can see Letang in his late 30s cutting back minutes and being a good 2nd pairing guy. Or the wheels fall off and he gets LTIRd or plays out the last 2 years on a terrible team.

We accept our fate.

 

[Don'tcry4mejanhrdina]

No one knows, all I can say with certainty is that 6m for ages 36-42 usually doesn't pan out well.

He'll have just turned 41 when the contract ends, not 42. Also, plenty of defensemen have had high levels of play well into their late 30's or even early 40's (Lidstrom, Chara, MacInnis, Murphy, Stevens, Bourque, Chelios, Zubov, Pronger, etc..). The last 2-3 years of his contract doesn't even matter. Crosby/Malkin will both be either retired or very old, Guentzel/Rust will be on the wrong side of 30 and their prospect cupboard is almost completely bare so there's no future stars on the horizon. Everyone knows it's going to be bad in a few years, it is what it is.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Capfriendly says that Nicklas Lidstrom made more than Letang will make from ages 36-42. The Cap was much smaller back then.

There are only a couple differences in those 2 cases though:

1. Nick Lidstrom is one of the best defensemen of all time. Probably in the top 5
2. Nick signed 4 individual 35+ contracts. 2x 2 year deals and 2x 1 year deals.

so even for one of the best defensemen to ever do it, he was only able to get shorter term deals. Because even the best regress over time.

 

[RSPens]

Did I say I did? But the strategy is pretty common sense i would think. Guess you common sense is lacking for you though...

Your "strategy" isn't the problem. It's that it's exactly what every GM in the league is trying to do and non of it is guaranteed. But since you apparently have better "common sense", I guess everything you touch turns to gold. No the reality is, you would be even more inept then the majority of the GM's. It's easy to sit here and say things like "That Team should have drafted Makar", or traded for "so and so", but it's not as easy in real time.

 

[TeeTee]

I have gone full circle on Letang. As he has gotten older, he has changed his game to a less risky style. He used to drive me nuts with his decision making. He still is an exceptional player. The Pens had to keep him. I would rather they do 6x6 instead of 9x4.

 

[orby]

Not sure if "Penguin for Life" is the best headline.
The future headline: Jun 7th, 2026 - Trade announcement - Kris Letang and the 15th OA in this years draft was traded to Seattle for future considerations.

Honestly though, Pitt fans are probably okay with this as they'll get 3 maybe 4 more good years out of him.

The Pens won't be competitive by the last 2 years of this deal. They will be rebuilding. There will be no incentive to pay to get rid of Letang even if he sucks; if anything they might be looking for contracts to help them reach the cap floor.

 

[BrockLobster]

Does this now surpass Bobs contract as the worst in the NHL?

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Does this now surpass Bobs contract as the worst in the NHL?

No? Bobrovsky wasn't underpaid for any portion of the contract; Letang will be underpaid for 2-3 years at least.

There are only a couple differences in those 2 cases though:

1. Nick Lidstrom is one of the best defensemen of all time. Probably in the top 5
2. Nick signed 4 individual 35+ contracts. 2x 2 year deals and 2x 1 year deals.

so even for one of the best defensemen to ever do it, he was only able to get shorter term deals. Because even the best regress over time.

But Lidstrom didn't regress that much over time. He put up 62 points in his age 40-41 season.

 

[DearDiary]

Not sure if "Penguin for Life" is the best headline.
The future headline: Jun 7th, 2026 - Trade announcement - Kris Letang and the 15th OA in this years draft was traded to Seattle for future considerations.

Honestly though, Pitt fans are probably okay with this as they'll get 3 maybe 4 more good years out of him.

Why is the worst team in the NHL trading 1st round picks to get out of a contract?

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Why is the worst team in the NHL trading 1st round picks to get out of a contract?

That's the thing...there's no way in hell the Penguins are still competing at the end of this contract, so there's no reason for them to be wary of a contract that'll help them in the short-term while competing is still very much on the table.

Hell, him being around on a bad team isn't the worst thing in the world given his workout regiment. Letang possesses plenty of good habits that you'd like to rub-off on younger players. He's like having a second Gary Roberts around in that sense.

I just find it funny when fans of the team are like 'yep, we're going to suck in a few years...we've known this for a long time and it's been worth it' and fans of third parties act like we're going to be blindsided when nearly two decades of sustained high level play doesn't extend into a third decade. No shit, guys. That's not a good reason to rush into a rebuild while the core is still playing at a high level. Letang just set a career high in points himself, fer cryin' out loud.

 

[The Blunder Years]

Does this mean 6 more years of trying to win with their core? Their rebuild is going to be insane in 2028

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Does this mean 6 more years of trying to win with their core? Their rebuild is going to be insane in 2028

No, just 3-4, with the last 2-3 years of Letang's contract being rebuild years and therefore unconcerned about the cap hit then.

 

[KaraLupin]

He's more fit than most 25 year old athletes. The comments on HF rival Twitter which is surprising. People don't know jack about this guy, the NHL salary cap, or the Penguins as they stand in 2022.

Letang at 40, 41 - if he's still playing, and we're not competing - might have value retained to a contender or as a mentor on another team. Not like he'll be unmovable. Which is irrelevant as the whole point is AAV in the cap world.

The only reason we were ready to dismiss him - was that at 8.5 -9, 9.5 aav even in short term he'd be prohibitive to the team. At 6M this has the potential to make the team more competitive than last year.

The same value as a Duncan Keith, veteran third pairing guy that can play second unit on both special teams, then will ultimately retire before 40 because there's nothing left to prove at that age and just putting your body through rigorous training and traveling as you miss being a parent to your kids.