Pittsburgh Penguins’ defenseman Kris Letang has enjoyed a Hall of Fame-worthy career up to this point, and it’s no secret that his time in the National Hockey League has been met with his fair share of challenges.
Most recently, he had surgery to repair a patent foramen ovale (PFO), or a small hole in the heart, which was done, in part, to reduce the risk of stroke - two of which he’s had throughout his NHL career. He’s also dealt with several injuries that have held him back at various points.
But, he may be facing a new kind of challenge next season.
Letang, 38, has put up 175 goals and 772 points in 1,161 NHL games so far, but he has seen his production, ice time, and level of play slowly erode over the last few seasons. After registering 10 goals and 51 points in 82 games during the 2023-24 season, Letang managed to produce just nine goals and 30 points in 74 last season. He also saw his average ice time drop by more than a minute from year-to-year, as he averaged 24:41 in 2023-24 and 23:32 in 2024-25.
Because of his age, health, and slow decline in play, Letang has reached a point where he probably shouldn’t be logging the heavy top-pairing minutes that Penguins’ fans grew accustomed to seeing throughout the years. Former head coach Mike Sullivan even mentioned that they were trying to lighten Letang’s workload at various points over the last few seasons, which was made a little bit easier after the acquisition of Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks in the summer of 2023.
But with Karlsson’s name in trade rumors - and his future in Pittsburgh uncertain - it puts Letang in a bit of a difficult spot. Karlsson and Letang receive the vast majority of the ice time among Penguins’ blueliners, and Karlsson - while not a defensive stalwart - plays the bulk of his five-on-five minutes with the top-two lines to help drive five-on-five offense.
And, make no mistake: Karlsson is still a primary driver of five-on-five offense, even in terms of league numbers. Production-wise, he registered 11 goals and 53 points last season, and he was in the top-10 among league defensemen in offense rating at plus-12.2, according to Hockey Stat Cards.
In other words, if Karlsson is out of the picture, it would immediately thrust Letang back into a role that he isn’t necessarily suited for anymore. The Penguins only have two other right-side defensemen on their active roster right now - Matt Dumba, acquired from the Dallas Stars, and Connor Clifton, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres - and neither are suited for a top-pair role or to be a primary driver on offense.
This puts him in a pretty difficult spot, as the Penguins, realistically, should continue to reduce his workload and slowly ease him into a lesser role in the lineup. With Karlsson still in the picture, this shouldn’t necessarily be an issue.
But if Karlsson is gone, they still have to figure out a way to make sure Letang isn’t logging the minutes he was asked to pre-Karlsson - which was around 25 minutes per game.
4 Potential Destinations For Penguins' Defenseman Erik Karlsson
With most of the big-name free agents off the board, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins</a> are generating quite the buzz on the trade market.
Maybe this would involve reducing his minutes on the penalty kill even more. Perhaps someone else can try to take the reigns on the power play, although - sans Karlsson - there isn’t really a better candidate than Letang on the blue line. Or maybe the five-on-five minutes can be distributed more evenly among all three pairings.
And this is also something to keep in mind with the left side in its current state. The Penguins have a mix of Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea, Ryan Graves, and Alex Alexeyev on the left side as of now, and that’s not accounting for youngster Owen Pickering. Ideally, all of these players would be third-pairing players, and none of them have logged particularly heavy minutes at the NHL level. Perhaps a more balanced approach to ice time would bode better for the Penguins next season, anyway.
But, regardless, the challenge for Letang and the Penguins will be to balance the reliance on Letang and the need to monitor his minutes. It will be interesting to see how that unfolds next season, Karlsson or not.
Penguins Still Have Big Roster Need To Address
The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins">Pittsburgh Penguins </a>have made multiple additions to their roster this off-season. Some of the players they brought in this summer include Anthony Mantha, Matt Dumba, Justin Brazeau, Arturs Silovs, Connor Clifton, and Parker Wotherspoon. Overall, the Penguins have added to their depth so far this summer.
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
Feature image credit: John Jones - Imagn Images