Sidney Crosby Could Win Another Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh...But Kris Letang Cannot

It's time to have a hard conversation about the Three Headed Monster, specifically one member: Kris Letang.

Tanger is only half-way through his 6-year, $6.1M AAV contract that Ron Hextall signed him to on his way out of town. The contract has been absolutely abysmal for the Penguins, who are still bound to Letang for over $18M over the next three seasons until he's 40.

To make things worse, Letang has a no-trade clause in place through the 2025-26 season, which amends to a 10-team team trade approved list in his age 39 and 40 seasons.

With his goal against the Capitals on Saturday, Sidney Crosby remains point-per-game in his age 37 season and continues to play at a high level.

Kris Letang, despite his own goal on Saturday, has regressed royally, and is dead weight to a defensive core that desperately needs to get younger and faster.

Comparing Letang to Other Old D-Men

When it comes to active all-time great defenseman, Kris Letang sits 4th among them in career points. Only Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, and Victor Hedman have more.

Let's look at Brent Burns for a minute. He's reached 900 career points and has always been an offensively-minded defenseman. Where Burns differs from Letang is that in his age 39 season, Burns can still skate and play defense.

I'm a North Carolina-based Penguins fan, so I've seen Brent Burns in person a lot. He's a mountain of a man, yet he defies the laws of physics with how well he skates. And you must be a plus defender on a Rod Brind'Amour coached team. Burns is the perfect two-way defenseman.

Letang has seen a drop-off in offensive production this season, and he's playing abysmal defense. If you've watched any Penguins game this season, you know that defense is a huge problem with this team. Letang is a problem within the problem.

He has eight goals, which is a fine number for a defenseman, but his 13 assists aren't even comparable to similar aging defenseman in the league. Just look at these assist numbers.

Brent Burns has 16 (but remember his defensive impact). Washington's John Carlson has 31 assists. Erik Karlsson has 32 assists. Victor Hedman has 36 assists. Roman Josi has 28 assists.

If you're going to play poor defense as a defenseman, you'd better be passable offensively. Letang is not.

Letang's Corsi Regression

Corsi% is an advanced hockey metric that calculates a subjective, positive impact on the game. When a player's Corsi% is 50%, it means that the team is controlling the puck (important for success) more often than not when the given player is on the ice.

Letang's Corsi% from 2007-2023 has been around 55%, which is an elite number - fringe Hall-of-Famer type numbers. The last two seasons, Letang's Corsi% is under 49.6%, well below average.

Again, consider our elder defensemen this season: Burns at 57.6%, Carlson at 53.9%, Karlsson at 52%, and Hedman at 52.4%. Letang makes slightly less money than those four, but his paycheck bracket is not indicative of his impact...at all.

The Solution

If Letang isn't even half way through his contract, the Penguins can't compete with Letang's cap hit eating away valuable money and rostering that could be used for a younger, productive d-man.

The painful solution is that Letang either does a 180 on his midlife crisis, or he retires. Neither are likely.

The Penguins have plenty of promising defenseman prospects that are close to being NHL ready. We've seen the likes of Owen Pickering this season, Vladislav Kolyachonok is a promising pickup, and Harrison Brunicke might be the future of the blue line in Pittsburgh.

And that's not to mention what Kyle Dubas could do in the trade market this season.

The problem is that Letang can't be a part of the solution, and if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. A renaissance in your late 30's in the NHL is pretty much unheard of, and with Letang's regression already in full effect, it's hard to believe that'll change.

Crosby, again, is still viable in the NHL. Evgeni Malkin is playable, but he falls in the space between Crosby and Letang for his age.

In this equation, Letang is the odd man out.

Interestingly, Letang only has two Stanley Cups to his name despite being a Penguin as long as Malkin, who has three. Letang missed the entirety of the 2017 playoffs due to injury, but the Penguins still managed to complete the back-to-back.

Aging will hit all of us eventually. When Tanger was young, he was a huge catalyst for the Cup runs. In fact in 2016, the Penguins don't win without Letang. He logged three goals and 12 assists in those playoffs.

Is he forever a part of the Three Headed Monster? Absolutely. Is his number 58 going to be hanging in the rafters at PPG Paints Arena one day? Yes.

Will the Three Headed Monster win another Stanley Cup as long as he's around? Sadly, no.

The Penguins' ebb and flow has gone with Kris Letang. Since Letang's decline, the Penguins have missed the playoffs every year, and they're bound to miss it again.

Want to see Crosby win one last Cup? Unfortunately, Kris Letang cannot be on the team. Reality hurts sometimes.