PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Kris Letang has made $61,688,780 as a Pittsburgh Penguin over his career, according to spotrac.com. He'll make another $7.25 million next season.
Will that be with the Pens or somewhere else?
"That's not my call," Letang said. "I don't want to think of those things. I want to prepare."
It kind of is his call as he has a limited movement clause on his contract. GM Ron Hextall said he wants to keep Letang, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin together. Can he do that and still make the hopeful improvements to this team?
"This is a business, it's not up to me to decide those things," Letang said. "Me, Geno and Sid want to finish as Penguins. We truly believe in ourselves. We think we have a lot to offer. That's what we want, but it's not up to us."
It will be up to Hextall and ultimately owner Mario Lemieux.
"For us as a D group, he brings juice to the whole team," said defenseman Marcus Pettersson. "I think what I didn't realize when I got here is how hard he plays. He's so skilled and so good on his skates, but he really plays hard. Hits people and defends hard."
"He eats up a lot of minutes for us. The way he does it too, some guys can play a lot of minutes. He plays tough and hard minutes. He plays his ass off every night. I think he's a huge leader for this group and has been for a long time. It's a real pleasure to play with him."
Even being the oldest defenseman on the team at 34 years-old, Letang keeps himself in amazing shape. His offseason workouts are impressive, Pens defenseman Mike Matheson belongs to the same place in Canada.
"Training with him in Montreal, you know of his reputation and pedigree," Matheson said. "When he walked into the gym, everyone noticed him because of who he was. He brought so much passion to every day, training hard and trying to get better."
This is the first year for Matheson to be his teammate, echoing what Pettersson said about his work ethic during the season.
Letang was 12th in the NHL in time on ice in 2021 at 24 minutes and 39 seconds per game and just seconds from being in the top 5. The 13- year veteran third among NHL defensemen with 38 assists and third in points when adding his seven goals.
He likely brings the biggest return of the Big 3 in a trade. But can the Pens truly improve without Letang? Is top prospect PO Joseph anywhere near ready to cover just some of what Letang brings every night?
One of the Pens all-time greats. Is now the time to part ways?
