If Kris Letang chooses to leave the Pittsburgh Penguins, these destinations fit best.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are still hoping that Kris Letang will be back to start the 2022-23 season. Letang has been the franchise defenseman for the past 13 seasons and has been a part of three Stanley Cup Championships with the Penguins. But with plenty of business to attend to this summer, some pieces of the Penguins leadership group will be left without a contract.
Letang has been in line for a payday for years, making only $7.25 million since signing a contract extension before the 2014-15 season. In a league where teams pay a premium for a right-handed, puck-moving defenseman, Letang has been operating below market price his entire career.
Recent reports say the Penguins and Letang are far apart in their initial discussions on a new contract.
When asked about his fate this summer, Letang said, "I don't know what to expect. The main goal has always been to stay here (Pittsburgh). I certainly tried to help build something good here, and I obviously want to keep it going."
While it seems like Letang is hoping to stick around, there is a chance that he and the Penguins can't strike a deal. If Letang is on his way out of Pittsburgh, where could he end up next season?
Detroit Red Wings
With Letang potentially looking to cash out on his final contract, whichever team attempting to court him will need to have ample cap space and be willing to possibly eat a steep regression on the back-end of the deal.
The Red Wings fit that description to a "T". With $11 million already in salary cap space along with Marc Staal and Danny Dekeyzer's contracts expiring, the Red Wings have plenty of wiggle room to give Letang what the contract he wants.
Letang would join a team that seems to be on an upward trajectory but is still a few years away from becoming a contending team. With young rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider lighting up the league, Letang would bring much-needed experience while becoming a fantastic mentor for Seider, similar to what former Penguin Sergei Gonchar was for him early in his career.
Anaheim Ducks
If Letang is looking for a nice place to wind down his career before retirement, he could do worse than heading to Southern California. While the Ducks have Cam Fowler signed for four more seasons, they could use a puck-moving defenseman to help improve their transition game and unlock more fast-break opportunities for their young forwards Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras.
The Ducks have plenty of cap space, especially with the injured Ryan Kesler's cap hit ($6.875 Million) coming off their books this summer. The division they play in would also lend to a successful marriage with Kris Letang, as the bulk of the competition is bigger and slower than the competition that Letang has played against for the majority of his career.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens may be the only true destination for Letang outside of Pittsburgh. It makes too much sense for him not to be intrigued by the possibility of joining the original six franchise.
The easy connection is that Letang was born and raised in Montreal, and the Habs have a history of bringing in French-Canadian players to become the face of their franchise. As recently as this season, they replaced head coach Dominique Ducharme with Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis, both products of Quebec.
The Habs also hired Kent Hughes as their new general manager during the season, who happens to be Kris Letang's former agent. If anyone outside of the Penguins knows how important Letang can be to a franchise, it would be the guy negotiating that fact for the majority of Letang's career.
The Canadiens are in a strange position during this off-season where they will select 1st overall in the NHL Draft just a year removed from playing in the Stanley Cup Finals. They will presumably add Shane Wright to an already impressive young core of Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.
The Habs could be the perfect situation for giving Letang the money he wants and having a good roster with a chance to compete for playoffs for the remainder of his career. Playing in front of Carey Price wouldn't be a bad situation either.
Kris Letang is high on the Penguins priority list, but if he chooses not to return to Pittsburgh, many other teams will be happy to have his services next season.
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