Pittsburgh Penguins Not Trying to Trade Kris Letang
By Josh Sanchez
The Pittsburgh Penguins reportedly offered an eight-year, $54 million deal to defenseman Kris Letang, but Letang politely declined the offer and responded with a counter. When the Penguins received Letang’s counter, it was too high of an asking price, which left the two teams very far apart.
This led to speculation that the Penguins could be looking to trade Letang, but general manager Ray Shero denied that the team is looking to move Letang… for now.
“There is a time to make a deal, time to sign a contract, agree on a contract or not agree on a contract,” Shero said, according to NHL.com. “There is a point in the negotiation where you have to make a decision. Kris is going to have to make one and so am I.
“Both sides have to make some decisions. We’ll go from there.”
Shero didn’t completely rule out trading Letang, but he did make it known that he would like to focus on re-signing his star defenseman first. If the two sides remain far apart, then a trade for Letang would still be possible.
“I can’t try to sign a guy and try to trade him at the same time. I’m going to try to sign him,” Shero said. “I’ve had a couple teams inquire. They read the paper. They ask to keep them in mind. I haven’t explored any of that. I don’t think that’s productive at this point. Our goal is to sign him.”
This will definitely be a situation to keep an eye on throughout the summer, so we will continue to keep you updated on the latest developments.