Kris Letang: Pittsburgh radio host says he asked to be traded to Montreal

Even at 37, Kris Letang is still capable of producing.

His 23-24 season of 51 points in 82 games is proof of that.

That said, he’s at the end of his career, and earning a substantial salary. He’s under contract until the end of the 2027-2028 season and earns an average of $6.1 million per season…

I’m talking about Letang today because Mark Madden, a radio host who covers sports in Pittsburgh, dropped a big piece of information on his podcast last week.

It’s not complicated: according to what he heard, Letang has asked the Penguins to trade him to Montreal.

There were even talks of doing so, but the deal fell through:

I heard there were discussions to try to bring Letang to Montreal at Letang’s request, but nothing came of it. – Mark Madden

With the Montreal Canadiens still rebuilding, they will likely be sellers again this season. Which players could be on the move in 2024-25 because of it? https://t.co/NI2eIqn7Z3

– The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) August 11, 2024

As you’d expect, there are some pretty easy connections to be made between the Habs and the Penguins defenseman.

Kris Letang grew up supporting the Habs, he was born in Quebec, his former agent is now the club’s GM in Montreal (Kent Hughes)… And his name has been linked to the Habs in the past.

But even if Letang would have liked to have been traded to Montreal, you still have to think about the negative, even if we’re talking about a player who’s attractive to any team in the National League.

And here, when I talk about the negative, you’ll understand that I’m talking about his hefty contract. But Letang – barring a surprise – won’t play four more seasons in the NHL with his injury history.

At least, if he makes it to the 27-28 season, chances are he’ll be a lot less productive than he is now.

Of course, for the Habs, the idea is interesting in a way because there’s a hole on the right side of defense. David Savard is there, Justin Barron is capable of getting by (without more)… And in the bank of hopefuls, we find only Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher among the right-handed defensemen who should be playing for the Habs at some point.

But with the age, and especially the contract, of the Québécois defenseman… It might be more ideal to think of another solution with the Habs.

Overtime

– Will Smith is ready to break it all.

Sharks’ Smith: The goal is to be ‘huge contributor’ in rookie season https://t.co/HbVFveSNPK pic.twitter.com/sPzv2YqnWZ

– theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) August 12, 2024