Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang left practice today for what is being described as precautionary reasons. Not much else is known about the 36-year-old’s status, but head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters that Letang is banged up a little bit.
Letang could be dealing with a nagging issue as his play has slipped as of late. He has just a single point in his last seven games despite having been elevated to the team’s top power-play unit in place of Erik Karlsson. Overall, he is having one of the finest seasons of his career with four goals and 26 assists in 49 games while playing some of his best defensive hockey. He has flourished in a different role this season even if his play has trailed off as of late.
In other Penguins notes:
- Rorabaugh is also reporting that Penguins forward Jansen Harkins has been placed on the injured reserve with a concussion. The 26-year-old had become a regular on the Penguins fourth line alongside veterans Noel Acciari and Jeff Carter and had been taking much of the team’s defensive zone starts in recent weeks. Harkins has been okay in a depth role for the Penguins, although he hasn’t provided much in the way of offense with just four assists in 34 games this season. No word yet on a timeline for Harkin’s return but he will presumably miss the Penguins games this week.
- Rorabaugh has also reported that Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin had a maintenance day today and did not practice with his teammates. The 37-year-old skated briefly in a sweatsuit before the team’s practice while he was monitored by Penguins medical staff. Malkin hasn’t been himself this season as it appears the aging curve has started to catch up with the former Hart Trophy winner. In the last ten games, Malkin has struggled with just a single goal, and this is the second maintenance day he has received in the last few weeks leading to speculation that he could be dealing with a nagging injury of his own.
The oldest team in the league, And Dubas actually made them older after acquiring Karlsson, My guess is there’s no way Guentzel is staying in Pittsburgh.
Regardless of Karlsson’s disappointing performance, I prefer having him and his cap hit over dead weight of Ruuta, Petry and Granlund. Moving them opened up contract slots to allow retooling.
Karlsson actually lowered their average age. Also, he’s produced at career norms at 5v5. He has been fine. The problem is that he and malkin just didn’t work together and that’s the backbone of your power play.
Retooling is an optimistic term with the current state of affairs, Regardless of the details of the transaction, The Penguins are not in better shape. In fact, The Karlsson transaction didn’t move the needle at all, Dubas didn’t have much of a resume before he took over in Pittsburgh, And then he gave himself the title of GM as well as team president, We shall see how he navigates a long rebuild in the Steel city.
They are still the oldest team in the league and as a group they are playing that way.
They need that first round pick they gave up for EK more than that other stuff. Their farm system is bottom of the league and they have zero young talent on their NHL roster. A good GM figures out how to get out of those contracts with minimal damage and keeping his first rounders. You can retool all you want, when there is no young talent in your organization to freshen up your roster you are just spinning your wheels.
Age hasn’t played a part in their play. They just aren’t finishing, the power play is historically bad and the bottom six has been predictably under achieving offensively. They are getting in the right places and driving play most of the time, they just aren’t converting. That’s not a sign of age, it’s a sign that they aren’t focused.
It was a protected top 10 pick. The pick they’ll lose won’t be a high one either way.
The Karlsson trade was a very savvy and smart trade. They dumped a bunch of bad contracts and a protected first and got back a top 10 defensemen in the league along with getting younger and saving money against the salary cap.
The Penguins have a ton of cap space in the coming years, it won’t be a long rebuild (if any rebuild at all). You can hope for that all you want, but they have the money to bring in top free agents. So as long as Dubas makes smart signings and trades they should be fine. I know you’re just a Dubas/Pens hater, but try to live in reality.
Here’s reality. The Penguins are 23 and 26 and if they make the playoffs they will be on the golf course by the middle of April.
Not what we were discussing at all, you totally changed the topic. I don’t think they’re a cup contender, but definitely a playoff contender with the talent to make a run.
They don’t have that much cap space. They have $36 million on the books for the 2026-27 season, and that’s without Crosy and Guentzel. And a majority of that money is tied up in what will be dead money. Letang will be 39, Crosby, assuming they re up, will be 39 as well. Karlsson will be 36. Rust and Rakell will be 34. They won’t have a single penny going towards anybody in their prime years and no players coming through the system that will be on ELC deals. Having some money to throw around in free agency is great if you have a core of players, but if you’re looking to build your core through free agency, it is fool’s gold. The true impact young players around the league are all getting locked into long term deals with the teams that drafted them. The only ones that are hitting free agency are the lemons like Laine and Dubios.
Rakell will have long been traded by then, and probably Jarry as well. Ouside of that you’ll have Crosby at a discount, Rust (if he’s not traded as well), and Letang and Karlsson, who will probably be performing at their cap hits instead of above it by that point.
You’re acting like trades don’t exist. I expect that to be the primary way the Penguins acquire young assets in the next few years. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see them trade Smith and Rakell at this deadline.
If Dubas is worth what people think he is, he has plenty of assets and cap space to make it a quick rebuild. Especially by taking advantage of teams in a cap crunch. People assume the Pens will be like the Blackhawks of old, but the comparisons are apples to oranges with how aging players are performing, the increasing cap, and the team slowly getting younger utilizing trades.
So all of these guys will get better in their age 37, 38 seasons?
OK.
And nobody is giving you a bucket of pucks for any of those players you mentioned. Once they signed deals with term they became devalued as a player, nobody wants 32 year old middle six wingers with multiple years left on their deals. If you’re lucky you get a 3rd round pick for them and just as good a chance you have to give up a pick to get somebody to eat their cap hit.
Who did I say is getting better? I specifically said Letang and Karlsson would get worse, but they’d still probably be good players.
You seriously underestimate desperate teams. Teams get big returns including young assets for middle six point producers all the time. Also, Jarry is a top 10 goalie in a league short on good goalies. He’s fetch a good amount in a trade if he keeps performing above his cap hit. His contract is a steal right now. We’ll see.
You can get assets for middle 6 players if they are in expiring contracts. Nobody is giving you anything for guys like Rust and Rakell because they are signed for 4 more years. They are worthless on the open market and that’s not a knock on them as players, they are both solid players, it’s just the reality of the modern NHL and the situation everybody is in with the cap. They will probably get more for Smith who will be in his walk year next year. Teams are accounting for every penny under the cap, nobody wants to be left holding the bag on a non-impact player on the wrong side of 30 with 3 or 4 years remaining on their deal.
You literally have to pay teams to take those players, or deal them straight up for another guy with similar term.
With all due respect to what that core accomplished, they chose to sit out several off ramps on a rebuild and now they are looking at a long, difficult road ahead. The cupboard is just about as bare as can be for an NHL team. You have to draft and develop players to compete in today’s NHL, and they have stopped doing that.
What an astonishing thing: elderly players with injury histories both in decline and getting too banged up to play. If only someone could have predicted this.
Who is too banged up to play? If the Penguins just had an average Power Play they’d be in third place in the Metro. I think that’s where they finish anyways, but they’d already be there now if their PP wasn’t underachieving so badly. Five on five they’re a top 10 team in the league, which would bode well if they make the playoffs.
What’s really crazy is how lucky they have been with injuries in comparison with other teams in the league. Especially when you consider the ages of their players. Crosby, Karlsson, Guentzel, Malkin and Letang haven’t missed a single game. I do think that if they remain 100% healthy with their top players they have a good chance at the final wild card spot.