Penguins A to Z: Kris Letang continues to endure
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2023-24 season coming to an end without any postseason action, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 52 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from fourth-line center Noel Acciari to reserve winger Radim Zohorna.
This series is scheduled to be published every weekday leading into the second day of the NHL Draft on June 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Kris Letang
Position: Defenseman
Shoot: Right
Age: 37
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 201 pounds
2023-24 NHL statistics: 82 games, 51 points (10 goals, 41 assists), 24:41 of average ice time per game
Contract: In the second year of a six-year contract with a salary cap hit of $6.1 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2028
(Note: The first four years of Letang’s contract contain a no-movement clause. The final two years contain a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of 10 teams he would not accept a trade to.)
Acquired: Third-round draft pick (No. 62 overall), July 31, 2005
This season: After the Penguins’ next-to-last game of the 2023-24 campaign, Kris Letang was asked how he was fairing at such a late stage of the season.
“I feel like you should feel after 81 games,” he quipped on April 15.
Two nights later, he completed the full set of 82 games.
Four weeks later, he underwent surgery to repair a fractured finger on his left hand.
Playing a full season is grueling for any player, especially a 30-something who has endured serious maladies such as a pair of strokes.
But Letang did it and at a mostly satisfactory pace befitting a six-time All-Star.
Much of what he accomplished in 2023-24 came with a slightly diminished workload thanks to the presence of fellow All-Star right-handed defenseman Erik Karlsson, who largely inhabited the point duties on the top power-play for the duration of the season.
That meant Letang was primarily relegated to the second power-play unit while taking on a larger role with the penalty kill as he averaged 2:32 of short-handed ice time per contest, an increase over the average of 56 seconds he clocked during the 2022-23 campaign.
Regarding five-on-five play, Letang split much of his time between Marcus Pettersson (516:13 of common five-on-five ice time according to Natural Stat Trick) and Ryan Graves (412:25) before finding stability with P.O Joseph (317:19) in the final weeks of the season.
The high point of the season for Letang came during a 7-0 road win against the New York Islanders when he recorded six assists, including five during the second period. He became the first defenseman in NHL history to collect that many assists in a single period. He also tied the league’s single-game record for assists by a defenseman.
Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Evgeni Malkin with 03:54 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson.
New York: 0
Pittsburgh: 5#PITvsNYI #Isles #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/MufPGbtYNX— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 28, 2023
The low point for the Penguins occurred with Letang on the ice. During a 5-2 road loss to the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 22, Letang and forward Evgeni Malkin failed to connect on a pass in front of their own vacant net during a delayed penalty, resulting in an embarrassing own goal.
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) May 30, 2024
Letang’s overall offensive figures were down a bit given his decline in power-play ice time, but during the Penguins’ frantic 8-2-3 push in the final 13 games of the season for a playoff spot, he was one of the team’s leading offensive drivers with 11 points (two goals, nine assists).
Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Kris Letang with 04:51 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell.
Pittsburgh: 2
Detroit: 1#DETvsPIT #LetsGoPens #LGRW pic.twitter.com/3xOyXJRldR— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 11, 2024
The future: Not much will be different for Letang going into 2024-25. He’s under contract for another four seasons and is still capable of logging monster minutes in all situations.
His health is always a legitimate concern given his medical history and that only gets amplified as he pushes further into his late 30s.
Perhaps the most pressing dilemma with Letang is finding him a steadier defensive partner. After years of automatically being lined up to the dependable Brian Dumoulin, Letang never found sustained chemistry with Graves, the team’s most prominent free agent acquisition in 2023. To be clear, that malfunction was more due to Graves’ own shortcomings than any failures on Letang’s behalf, but Penguins management had grand designs on those two finding sustained alchemy.
Pettersson appears to be bolted on next to Karlsson while Joseph appeared to be a safe option next to Letang during the final weeks of the season.
Regardless of all of those factors, Letang continues to endure.