Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang contract update: No update

by Hooks Orpik on Feb 11, 2010 5:35 PM EST Comment 19 comments

Thanks to Rob Rossi for a little old fashioned reporting:

GM Ray Shero is expected to meet with Gonchar’s agent next week in Vancouver, though I’ve not heard that any major progress has been made toward a new deal....the sides have not agreed on the length of a possible extension, and until that happens, the finances of a possible deal really aren’t worth discussing.

And for Kris Letang:

..no real movement on discussions with Letang, who unlike Gonchar can become only a restricted free agent on July 1. The vibe I get is that Letang’s camp believes the Penguins have prioritized Gonchar... I cannot say that Letang’s value to the club moving forward is not equal to that of Gonchar’s, especially given Letang’s upside. My feeling is that the coaching staff considers him the club’s best overall defenseman on most nights. I’d put the chance of an extension before the March 3 trade deadline at no better than 10 percent.

Not much news, but that's not disconcerning for Penguin fans. Reading between the lines here's the important bullet points:

Gonchar's agent and Shero are talking, and talking fairly regularly. That's a good thing; better to having ongoing, open-ended talks than a stalemate and a closed off demands. There's a lot of time left until July 1 and Shero will have a good idea of what he's dealing with when it comes to his decision.
One big hold-up could be the length of the deal: Gonch obviously wants the longest deal possible to assure himself the most possible guaranteed money, but how much can Shero afford to to give to an injury prone 36 year old defenseman that's guaranteed to be on the salary cap for the duration of the contract? That's the question.
Once the Gonchar domino is in place, things wil turn to Letang. Letang will obviously get his qualifying offer and be more stable for the Pens to deal with in July/August, though his contract negotiation could be a whole different story.

So as the season drags a long, it looks like Shero is weighing his options and considering just how he's going to handle the decisions. As always, Shero's taking a very measured approach, communicating and learning as much as possible about the situation. Don't hold your breath, this might take a while.

0 recs | Comment 19 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

That was a sick save Letang made to bail Fleury out last night.

A bee in a bird's nest never made no honey, and a bird in a hive sang no song.

by AlexStitch on Feb 11, 2010 6:25 PM EST reply actions

Mark Madden reported today that the Letang camp is very far from Shero on a deal. I would love to keep Tanger, but if he’s looking for $4 or $5 million (as reported),… well, Goligoski has not really been so bad this year, eh?

by monge15 on Feb 11, 2010 8:12 PM EST reply actions

he can pack his bags for $4 mill. That’s alls I gots to say about Letang.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Feb 11, 2010 9:32 PM EST up reply actions

I with you on that. Trade him if that is his demands. Staal’s contract is in the 4-5 mil category, Letang is not at the same level as Jordan.

by Randy F on Feb 11, 2010 9:42 PM EST up reply actions

Well, you also can’t really compare Tanger’s contract demands with Jordan’s because both are different positions. However, $4mil is pushing it, and $5mil is completely crazy. I would expect around a $3.5mil settlement for 3-4 years. That’s what Suter’s getting in Nashville, Johnson’s been getting in St. Louis, Hedman’s getting in Tampa, and Seabrook’s getting in Chicago.

by lostprophetRJX on Feb 11, 2010 10:10 PM EST up reply actions

The thing that gets me lately about Letang is that everyone is starting to praise his defensive side of the game. To me, that looks like they’re trying to find positives because his offensive game is so weak as of late. He has been better on defense, but that’s not what he’s on that blue line for. It’s nice to see, but his real purpose is to add a shot that can hit the net (or go in) and set up a few of the scorers with some accurate passing. Again, he’s not doing much of either and it’s pretty frustrating to see.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Feb 12, 2010 9:21 AM EST up reply actions

They’re right in looking at his defensive game improving though despite his offensive game suffering because that’s what’s gonna happen to a young Dman learning to be a two-way player. Sure, he’s tagged as an offensive Dman, but I’d much rather see him develop his defensive side first which is much harder to develop. He’s learning to play it safe, and not take as many risky chances in the offensive zone, and as a result he’s being used as a shutdown assistant with Brooksy. And I actually don’t see his offensive game really dropping that much. His point production may have slipped, but offensive Dmen are primarily a playmaking type, creating chances. And Tanger can still be seen carrying the puck into the attacking zone or joining the rush creating pressure opportunities.

There’s a reason I wouldn’t want Mike Green, offensive powerhouse that he is, on my playoff team. Defensemen are imperative to be two-way players to be successful.

by lostprophetRJX on Feb 12, 2010 3:43 PM EST up reply actions

Gologoski is nowhere near Letang in the defensive zone. They’re pretty close offensively, but I shudder to think about an Orpik-Gogo matchup on Ovechkin the next time the Pens play the Caps. Letang is really finding his physical game and really getting better defensively. He’s also two years younger and much bigger than Gogo. His contribution to the team, like Staal before this year, is quite underrated.

by Max Powers on Feb 12, 2010 8:17 AM EST reply actions

I think it was NHL Live that Orpik was on, and they mentioned that against the Caps Orpik and Letang were matched up against each OV and did a pretty decent job. He did score two goals against them, but they were fluke goals, and other wise Bruce was trying to to keep his Captain away from them.

A bee in a bird's nest never made no honey, and a bird in a hive sang no song.

by AlexStitch on Feb 12, 2010 12:49 PM EST up reply actions

All reasons here why I would be willing to move Gogo right now for a rental/young gun forward and in order to keep Letang. Gogo’s offensive upside is huge, possibly ending up being a better playmaker than Letang. But his lack of size and unwillingness to take the body are just too big of negatives in a defenseman for that offensive prowess to make up for. Gogo very well might end up being the next Dan Boyle, but at least Dan Boyle plays with an edge. Letang has shown quick improvement for a defenseman, and when it comes to the positive/negative sum, he’s the better two way Dman right now. We’ve got a few solid D prospects right now with size and plenty of potential.

by lostprophetRJX on Feb 12, 2010 3:56 PM EST up reply actions

Madden said yesterday Letang is still asking for $4 mil and the Pens offered $2 mil. Whether you believe that or not is up to you.

by genomachine-O on Feb 12, 2010 8:50 AM EST reply actions

I can see no more than $3, and even that is a stretch. He’s in a contract year. He made it known before the season even started that he wanted $4 mill per in an extension. I’m sure someone in the front office turned around and told him, “Then if you want $4 million, go out there and play like you’re worth $4 million.” Simply put, he’s not.

Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.

by FrankD on Feb 12, 2010 9:18 AM EST up reply actions

100% agreed Frank. Letang is nowhere near a $4 million dollar contract…he misses the net almost every time he shoots the puck and his first pass out of the zone is never on target. Yes he’s a good skater and he’s getting more physical, but he still has a ways to go before we invest that much money in him in a salary cap league.

by GoPens! on Feb 12, 2010 9:40 AM EST up reply actions

To sum up

<$3mil- he stays
$4mil<- bid him adieu

by stoopidtom on Feb 12, 2010 1:41 PM EST via mobile reply actions

Off Topic

I know this is a bit off topic, but I couldn’t find anywhere else to pose it. I noticed that the Sens have released Jonathan Cheechoo. Does anyone else think he could be a low risk high reward pick up for the Pens? Maybe playing on a wing with Malkin could bring him back to at least a 20-25 goal scorer, which could really help the Pens out. Having been waived, he could probably be had for a conditional pick at most. What does everyone else think?

by Dew God on Feb 12, 2010 3:49 PM EST reply actions

his cap hit is $3 million, that isn’t low risk. If the pens signed Cheechoo, they’d be banking a lot on the chance that he comes out of his funk, and they wouldn’t have that $3 million in cap space to sign someone that has been playing well lately. No to Cheechoo, sorry.

by bbill on Feb 12, 2010 6:13 PM EST up reply actions

Am I the only one who sees Gonchar’s game worsening this season? He’s still a top 15 defenseman in the league, but he’s not been as good defensively, and he’s lost half a step.

I just hope that if they re-sign him, it’s not for more than 2 years.

by RCheli on Feb 12, 2010 5:34 PM EST reply actions