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Does Letang’s contract mean Gonchar leaves Pens?

Image (1) Gonchar-thumb-250x187-8151.jpg for post 571

Per TSN’s Bob McKenzie on Twitter, Kris Letang’s contract extension is four years, at $3.5 million per year.

That’s about what you would expect for a defenseman like Letang, who is still very young and has the potential to develop into a very dangerous offensive weapon from the blue line. As it is, he’s already a shutdown defenseman who routinely takes on the opponent’s toughest lines.

What is interesting about the contract is that it most likely means that the Penguins will part ways with Sergei Gonchar this summer. Gonchar will be 36 next season, and unless he’s willing to take a serious pay cut -- say to $2.5 million a season -- then it’s entirely possible the Penguins go with younger and cheaper defensemen.

With Letang under contract, the Penguins can re-sign Jordan Leopold to a decent contract, and use some of their younger prospect defensemen, such as Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy, to round out the defensive pairs. Don’t forget about Simon Despres either.

It’s going to be tight for a team that will be right against the cap next season, especially considering they’ll need to sign four forwards as well.

Was locking down Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby long-term really worth all this hustle and bustle to stay under the cap?

Yeah, it was.