Pittsburgh Penguins: Is Justin Schultz Legitimate Now?

This season saw Pittsburgh Penguins top defenceman Kris Letang out with injury for a majority of the season.

With Letang absent, the Pittsburgh Penguins had to find some sort of alternative to his services. It’s hard enough to come across a number one defenceman in the NHL, let alone replace one with another.

Pittsburgh Penguins

But nevertheless, the Penguins found a number one defenceman in none other than Justin Schultz. Schultz played amazingly this season, but can he keep up his consistency? What does the future hold for Justin Schultz and the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Kris Letang’s Return

With Kris Letang’s imminent return next season, it makes us all wonder where will Justin Schultz slot in on defence? He has clearly shown he is now capable of being a number one defenceman, but he is still not as good as Letang. Letang will always be the Penguins 1A defenceman, but does this make Schultz a capable 1B defenceman or even the #2 man?

Schultz definitely is capable of playing a lot of minutes. He could possibly be paired up with Letang on the first pair, perhaps that would be a deadly combination. Or perhaps placing him on the second pairing alongside Ian Cole or Olli Maatta could help.

Contract Talks

Schultz’s one-year contract expires at the end of this season. With his fantastic play throughout the season, we should be expecting him to get quite the raise.

If the Penguins have the cap space to resign Schultz, we can expect him to be a priority. Shchultz looks like the real deal now and if we can hold on to him he can really boost out blue line next season. A three-peat possibly? We’ll have to find out.