[Rumour] Letang on the move? Upd: Letang turns down 8yr $56mil contract

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by GoIggy

No, it'll be reminiscent of the Staal deal. Pens are trading Letang because they can't afford another big contract.

It'll be Letang for a cheaper, but not as good version of him and picks / prospect type of deal

I think Pk subban's current contract provides pretty good value.

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Originally Posted by GoIggy

Hello all, I feel the need to quote part of my 2nd post I ever made here



Seriously, this guy knows nothing and is a well known rumor spreader. Its a shame a mainstream newspaper employees him, but I'm seeing some Rossi stuff being linked. Just a FYI that all of that means nothing

So in essence he's Pittsburgh's version of Francis?

[GoIggy]

Originally Posted by jeffman

I think Pk subban's current contract provides pretty good value.

So does Letang's

Subban will have a cap hit of 2.875 next year and then be a UFA
Letang will have a cap hit of 3.5 next year and then be a UFA

This isn't about the cap hit NEXT year, but the fact they attempted to re-sign Letang this off-season rather than risk losing a 26 year old Norris candidate for nothing next year.

They'd just be in identical situation with PK.

They already have:
Malkin 9.5 mill
Crosby 8.7 mill
Neal 5 mill
Fleury 5 mill
Martin 5 mill

For 2014-15, they REALLY can't afford 7 + mill contract or they'll have a group of stars and the rest scrubs

[Vinny01]

Subban will still be an RFA next year won't he?

[jeffman]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

Subban will still be an RFA next year won't he?

Yup. Makes sense to flip letang to mtl for subban then pay subban 5 mil next year

[Bezer]

Let me get this right..

Letang gets to play with 2 of the top 3 players in the world
He is on a team that is a perennial cup contender
He was offered a long term contract that pays him as one of the best players in the league.
(he is a great player offensively but defensively he certainly isn't)

So he rejects the offer and cries about it...give me a freakin break.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by jeffman

Yup. Makes sense to flip letang to mtl for subban then pay subban 5 mil next year

Why would Montreal do that? They trade the guy who won the Norris who's several years younger, doesnt have crazy injury history and will cost less in a year for the older, runner up Norris, injury-riddled guy who's not even a better player?

Add to that PK's defensive game is superior?

I get why Pittsburgh jumps all over this, but Montreal having any interest in this befuddles me.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

Edit: In the last three years there have only been three defenseman to finish in the top ten in Norris Trophy voting in each year; Chara, Weber, and Letang. Just goes to show what professional hockey writers think of him, since they are the ones voting for the award.

Not saying anything about Letang, but there's only so much stock you can put in award voting. I would say, for the majority of awards, it goes to a worthy winner but there's some terrible terrible people voting on these things. Not just homers rigging it like we saw in 2002 but guys who think Harding deserved a vote for the Calder. Harding, who played 3 games in a season that saw Malkin, Stastny, Staal and Kopitar make very impressive debuts. When Mitchell is getting Norris votes recently, and Visnovsky is getting a Hart vote (the year Perry won it..) I mean obviously less than credible people are voting.

Even some writers voting on the awards have come out and said that there's some very strange and peculiar voting, and with Norris especially it's far too point dependent anyways.

[CSharp]

I'd say move Letang for as much as you can get. No d-man is worth $7mil. So for him to ask for $8mil is just ridiculous. Letang plays small while Doughty and Weber are huge and plays huge. Who cares about a d-man with offensive skills who can't score when the going gets tough? Look at what had happened to Jbo in Calgary? Letang's in the same boat. He's lucky that Shero is even offering him $7mil for 8 years.

[moon]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Why would Montreal do that? They trade the guy who won the Norris who's several years younger, doesnt have crazy injury history and will cost less in a year for the older, runner up Norris, injury-riddled guy who's not even a better player?

Add to that PK's defensive game is superior?

I get why Pittsburgh jumps all over this, but Montreal having any interest in this befuddles me.

Because Subban winning the Norris this year was a joke, his defensive game is worse than Letangs, he is not as good offensively and although younger is likely never going to be as good as Letang at any point during Letangs next contract. Throw in his attitude rubbing guys on his team the wrong way and it seems clear why Montreal would want the much better player.

[Jables16]

I like Letang but really this is ridiculous. Erik Karlsson is the same type of player but better and he makes 6.5 million a year long term which is a contract that was signed before lockout and the cap went down. Karlsson also plays on a team with less high end talent. Now with the cap going down he wants 1.5 million more than Karlsson with the cap going down? Shero will trade his ass tomorrow for sure if this is actually the case.

It's playing out a lot like Staal's situation last year. Does his best to sign the guy long term it's obvious it won't happen so he doesn't let it fester and become a distraction (like a certain west coast GM), just gets a great return and moves on. Staal's situation was different though he wanted a chance to get out from under Crosby and Malkin and just signed the same deal in Carolina that Pitt offered which is understandable. Letang just looks greedy.

[trackercowe]

^ The difference is Letang will be a UFA next year, while Karlsson was just a RFA with Ottawa still obtaining his rights. Huge difference there. You really can only compare Letang's upcoming contact with other UFA's like Suter/Weber, or even Wideman, Wisniewski, and Bouwmeester. Just look at how much stupid money those guys made because of being a UFA and that's why Letang is asking for more than just 7 million per.

I've heard that Phaneuf for example will be asking for 6.5 next season, and he just might get it. If Phaneuf is worth 6.5 then Letang is easily worth 7.5+. Pretty insane I know, but that's the way things are right now.