Pittsburgh Penguins Lock Up Kris Letang With Huge Contract

Veteran defenseman Kris Letang is staying in the Steel City.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday to keep him in the only jersey he’s worn in his NHL career.

Letang and the Pens agreed to a six-year contract worth $6.1 million per year. The deal will keep Pittsburgh’s leader in points and games played by a defenseman with the Pens until he is 41. Presumably, this contract makes him a Penguin for life.

Letang’s new contract pays him less per year than his previous contract did, as you would expect for a player that is now 35 years old. For the Penguins, though, bringing him back was necessary, as the void that he would have left would have been impossible to fill.

Kris Letang has signed a new contract with the Penguins.

Last season, Letang had a career year in many regards. His 58 assists and 68 points were both career-highs for the blueliner, and he added 22 power play points to go with a plus-20 rating.

Only Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel had more points for the Penguins than Tanger, and only Brian Dumoulin had a better plus-minus (plus-24).

Letang also led the team in ice time, playing 25:46 per contest. That’s almost a full four minutes more per game than his next closest teammate.

In his career, number 58 has played 941 games. In that time, he has scored 144 goals and 506 points for 650 points. In the postseason, Letang has 90 points in 149 games, including the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in 2016 against the San Jose Sharks.

Given his age, it’s likely that this contract will not be great for the Penguins by the time it’s all said and done. With that in mind, who cares?

This move keeps Pittsburgh’s championship window open, and it keeps a player who is getting better with age and that the fans love in black and gold. It is without a doubt a win for the Penguins.

The organization will now turn its attention to Evgeni Malkin, whose contract has also expired. It seems less likely that Geno returns to Pittsburgh, but the team has to be happy with re-signing both Letang and forward Bryan Rust so far this offseason.

The Penguins still have plenty of gaps to plug as the summer is only just beginning, but with Letang locked up, management and fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief.