The story that emerged on Wednesday regarding the contract negotiations between the Pittsburgh Penguins and defenseman Kris Letang does not appear to be going away any time soon.
Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the two sides in the negotiations were far apart on reaching a new deal and that if an accommodation could not be reached, that Letang would be interested in being moved to Toronto, where he would be willing to sign a long term deal.
TSN’s Darren Dreger revealed that Pittsburgh and the Maple Leafs had not communicated regarding the availability of Letang, which is consistent with the likely scenario that Toronto is being used to shine a light on the fact that Letang and the Penguins are not speaking the same language at this point.
Thursday night, ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated via Twitter that Letang’s camp has turned down the Pens offer of an eight year deal at nearly $7 Million per season and that Pittsburgh has balked at their counter proposal of eight years, $62.5 Million, which has an AAV just under Nashville’s Shea Weber.
It is still unclear if there is any interest in the Norris Trophy finalist on the part of the Leafs, but common sense would hope that there is not, based on a few factors.
It would be a questionable decision to pay the high price that Letang’s representatives expect if he was on the open market as an unrestricted free agent where all it would cost is money, but Pittsburgh is likely to expect a similar package that they received for Jordan Staal last summer, a roster player, prospect and 1st round pick and then pony up over $7 Million per season.
Letang has excellent passing and skating ability, but the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs exposed him as sorely lacking in the defensive zone.
The Leafs are already stacked with offensive defensemen in Jake Gardiner, Cody Franson, John-Michael Liles, Dion Phaneuf and 2012 first rounder Morgan Rielly and they would likely have to give up either up Gardiner or Rielly(who would be on their entry level deals) in a trade to acquire the Pens blueliner.
What sense does it make to give up a potentially younger, cheaper version of Letang for the real Letang??
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