Kris Letang - Must Move

[wretched34]

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/blog/ey...player-by-pens

Reports that the Penguins are looking at Letang as a "Must Move" contract, as he will be demanding a big raise, longer terms, and a clause come next year when he is UFA.

Is this something the Flames should be taking interest in, he currently does not have a clause, so the trade lines are open, but is offering anything remotely close enough to what the Pens will be looking for, worth the risk of having him walk next season?

What would it take to make this deal? With the Pens saying they must move him, that drops the return significantly, as they are putting it out there, that they can't keep him. But what could the Flames risk? Gio and the return of Pittsburgh's 1st? Does Shero laugh at this, or does it make sense? Gio is locked down at $4.02M for 3 more years. Do they cut the Flames a break based on the Iggy deal?

Would love to see Letang in a Flames jersey, but doubt he'd stick around. Although if he expresses 0 interest in re-signing, possibility is there to flip him for a 2014 first to a contender that he wants to Re-sign with next year. If he wants to test the FA market, would we get any value at the deadline?

[kyuss275]

Flames can not afford Letang or any high end player.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Letang would be a total and complete flop in Calgary. He is already atrocious in his own end and he doesn't have the forwards in Calgary like he does in Pittsburgh to move the puck to.

[wretched34]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Flames can not afford Letang or any high end player.

Not sure why you would think that? Flames have a tonne of cap space.... If Letang was at all interested in staying long term, I'm sure there would be no issue signing him.
My thought was the exact opposite, in can the Flames afford to give up an asset for a player that likely won't be here more than 60 games... or could we flip Letang for something more valuable then the likes of the asset given up?

[Travis Munroe]

I might be wrong but the mindset of GM's cutting a break for a previous deal seems crazy to me. If anything it builds a relatioship to discuss things but I highly doubt any GM says ahh what the hell, we owe you one...
- Shero cuts us a deal for the Iggy package
- Fla cuts us a deal for sending a 4th instead of a 5th or 6th (few posters mentioning this yesterday)

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Letang would be a total and complete flop in Calgary. He is already atrocious in his own end and he doesn't have the forwards in Calgary like he does in Pittsburgh to move the puck to.

Pun intended?

He dives like a Canuck.

[GGG]

Any deal with Letang would have to be based on being able to agree to an extension prior to the deal being completed. Otherwise he is just worth what Jbo got. A 1st and 2nd tier prospects.

If you could sign him to a 5 year deal then he would be worth more. I don't see him as a defensive upgrade over Gio. We need to be adding strong defensive defensemen to go with our Brodie, Gio, Wideman group.

To me Letang is a significant step down from Doughty although may end up with the same moeny. He is not an elite defensement just a very good one.

[Erick Estrada]

Why would a high profile guy like Letang sign in Calgary where veteran players are asking for trades?

[dammage79]

Call me nuts or insane but I would pass on Letang.

[Bertuzzied]

Letang to the Oilers would be a dream come true for us Flames fans.

[wretched34]

Originally Posted by Realtor 1

I might be wrong but the mindset of GM's cutting a break for a previous deal seems crazy to me. If anything it builds a relatioship to discuss things but I highly doubt any GM says ahh what the hell, we owe you one...
- Shero cuts us a deal for the Iggy package
- Fla cuts us a deal for sending a 4th instead of a 5th or 6th (few posters mentioning this yesterday)

My thought was Gio + pens 1st would be a break, not asking that he take Blair Jones and 7th for him.
Gio is very serviceable and locked down for 3 years at a decent cap hit, which is what the Pens need, and is why they are moving Letang.
Or is Gio + the 1st not even remotely close?
I don't think the Pens can ask for to much when they are flat out saying, "We can't afford another high end player contract"

[Wolven]

Originally Posted by wretched34

Not sure why you would think that? Flames have a tonne of cap space.... If Letang was at all interested in staying long term, I'm sure there would be no issue signing him.
My thought was the exact opposite, in can the Flames afford to give up an asset for a player that likely won't be here more than 60 games... or could we flip Letang for something more valuable then the likes of the asset given up?

1) I don't think Letang would want to sign the contract to stay here
2) The Flames should avoid spending assets (picks/prospects) to get a guy like Letang at this point in the rebuild.
3) Letang seems to be more like a forward that plays from the blueline than an actual Dman. I would not want to build a team around him.

Let some other team help the Pens figure out their cap jail situation.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by wretched34

Not sure why you would think that? Flames have a tonne of cap space.... If Letang was at all interested in staying long term, I'm sure there would be no issue signing him.
My thought was the exact opposite, in can the Flames afford to give up an asset for a player that likely won't be here more than 60 games... or could we flip Letang for something more valuable then the likes of the asset given up?

I did not mean cap space, i meant they could not afford to give up the assets that Pitt would want. Pitt is not giving him away for a late first and Gio.

[moon]

Can't see him being a good fit. Calgary is going to be bad for 3-4 years so you are paying him a ton to help you miss the play-offs, has to be one of the least desirable spots for Letang to go to and the price we would have to pay wouldn't make sense.

Not a chance we get Letamg for Gio and the 28th pick. That isn't Shero doing us a favor (which makes 0 sense anyways) that is him trying to lose his job.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by wretched34

My thought was Gio + pens 1st would be a break, not asking that he take Blair Jones and 7th for him.
Gio is very serviceable and locked down for 3 years at a decent cap hit, which is what the Pens need, and is why they are moving Letang.
Or is Gio + the 1st not even remotely close?
I don't think the Pens can ask for to much when they are flat out saying, "We can't afford another high end player contract"

They can't afford Letang for the 2014/2015 season. They can afford him for the season coming up at $3.5 million. They have lots of time to trade him.

[nik-]

"We believe Kris Letang will be a franchise defender for us going forward, after talking to Kris, he's very excited to be a member of the Calgary Flames"

[kukkudo]

For some reason I see the Oilers trade there 1st pick for him.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Letang is elite offensively, defensively leaves much to be desired. I would still welcome him on the Flames, but the Flames are rebuilding and the assets to give up for him would be too much. If he hits FA, make a pitch, but I wouldn't give up assets for him at this point in time.

If Calgary was a contender and was in need of an offensively gifted defencemen, then I would hope the Flames would be looking (especially if they had rugged, stay at home D), but just doesn't make too much sense in trying to get him at this point.

[wretched34]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

They can't afford Letang for the 2014/2015 season. They can afford him for the season coming up at $3.5 million. They have lots of time to trade him.

But if they can't afford him for the 2014/2015 season, they can't afford to be asking for a huge return either, because they simply can't afford more big contracts.

So will their asking price be a top 4 D-man with a good contract $4M and under, plus picks and prospects? or a couple top propsects that they can save money on with ELC's?

[bubbsy]

Letang can be a game breaker, but defensively he's just brutal. Not sure i've seen a norris trophy candidate get beat so many times one on one.

If the oilers rebuild is attempting to to try to win games 9-7, then letang would fit nicely with their team.