• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
Pittsburgh Penguins

Should Kris Letang Be Inserted As a Top-Six Forward?

By Justin Glock March 5th, 2013

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp
Pittsburgh Penguin Kris Letang - Photo By Andy Martin Jr

Kris Letang needs to make his defensive responsibilities a bigger priority. (Andy Martin Jr)

Should Kris Letang be inserted as a top-six forward on the Pittsburgh Penguins? Letang leads all NHL defenseman in scoring with 21 points. That mark is tied with the Sedin twins in Vancouver for tenth highest total in the league. Letang’s point total leaves him one point shy of James Neal, two shy of Evgeni Malkin, and it’s easy to see why when you watch Tanger on the offensive. He is a premier play-maker.

Letang showed off his play-making ability when he dished a pass to Sidney Crosby for what should have been the game-winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night. Letang showed great patience by not shooting from a terrible angle when the puck was passed to him coming down the right wing. He held the biscuit circling behind the net and found Crosby for a one-timer that put the Pens up 3-2 late in the third period. These were natural offensive instincts displayed by Letang.

Letang is averaging a point-per-game as a defenseman. For a defenseman, a point-per-game average is nearly unheard of these days. If this were the 1980’s, Letang would fit right in as a defenseman with the likes of a Paul Coffey. There aren’t many forwards who are putting up the pace set by Letang this season. That’s why Letang should be moved up to left-wing on Malkin and Neal’s line, right? If this game was all about scoring goals, we would be just dandy now wouldn’t we? Throw Tanger up front to add to the offensive depth of the Penguins. The Pens are indeed looking for a top-six forward on the Malkin/Neal line. This just in, Letang needs to play defense more than the Pens need a top-six forward.

I have stressed before, and will stress again, that the NHL is very lenient in their statistic keeping when the stat refers to giving a puck away to an opponent. Letang had 21 giveaways entering Monday night’s game against the Lightning. He left the game with 23 giveaways, fourth most in the league. I can guarantee that Letang handed a puck over to an opponent more than 23 times this season.

Around the 12 minute mark of the first period, Letang and Brooks Orpik each gave the puck away twice to the Lightning in about a 30 second span. Later in the contest, Letang put the puck on a platter for Steven Stamkos who nearly scored if not for a brilliant save by Marc-Andre Fleury. There was at least one other giveaway by Letang that I counted preceding a commercial break at 12:59 of the second period. Spectators at home missed this giveaway due to a poor camera angle.

Letang is usually the Pens’ last line of defense when carrying the puck up the ice. With this being the case, Letang must make intelligent decisions with the puck at all times. Puck intelligence is something that Letang is severely lacking. He attempts to thread the needle and force way too many passes when the completion percentage of those passes is very low. If a secure pass is not available, Letang needs to be more willing to throw the puck high off the glass or make a soft dump to space to avoid turnovers.

Along with poor decisions with the puck, Letang needs to make smarter decisions without the puck. Chris Kunitz gave the puck away in the neutral zone to Lightning defenseman Keith Aulie with a little over nine minutes remaining in the second period. Crosby started chasing Aulie (the puck carrier) from behind while Letang was defending Aulie as Aulie was about to enter the Pens’ zone. When Aulie made a cross-ice pass to Martin St. Louis, Letang chased the puck over to St. Louis who Orpik was already defending. This decision by Letang hung Crosby (below top-left of screen) out to dry and nearly resulted in the Penguins surrendering a goal. If Letang would have stayed in position (on his side), St. Louis would have been unable to pass the puck back to Aulie which would’ve resulted in a poor angle shot from St. Louis. If St. Louis decided to hold onto the puck and not shoot, this would’ve at least given the Pens’ forwards more time to get back in position to pick up a Lightning player.

Letang is such a fantastic skater and many times can make up for poor decisions with his skating ability when he is out of position. Surely he relied upon this strength during his journey to the NHL. A defender can only be so quick in this game. The puck moves faster than any player skates. Letang needs to be more conservative in his risky decision making when defending. If he were more intelligent in his positioning and took fewer chances, Letang would be on the ice for fewer goals against.

Letang is supposed to play defense, hence the name of his position. I’m not saying he isn’t trying, but Letang is not playing the defense part nearly as well as the offensive role. You can argue his plus/minus stats as much as you want but those numbers do not truly justify how Letang has been playing outside of the Pens’ offensive zone. Letang, and whoever his partner may be on a given night, are paired against an opponent’s top-line. Shutting down an opponent’s top scoring unit should be Letang’s number one priority. If this task isn’t Letang’s biggest concern, then he should be relieved of this duty until he makes defense his number one prerogative.

  • Tags
  • Brooks Orpik
  • Chris Kunitz
  • Evgeni Malkin
  • James Neal
  • Keith Aulie
  • Kris Letang
  • Marc-Andre Fleury
  • Martin St. Louis
  • Paul Coffey
  • Sedin Twins
  • Sidney Crosby
  • Steven Stamkos
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 21st 5:55 PM
Edmonton Oilers

McDavid Has the Maple Leafs’ Number and Needs to Keep it That Way

Jan 21st 5:08 PM
Archives

NHLers by Country: On Top of Their Game and the World

Jan 21st 4:50 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers Missing Klefbom and Neal on Power Play

Jan 21st 4:40 PM
Minnesota Wild

Wild’s Soucy & Sturm Look Comfortable Filling Roster Gaps

Jan 21st 4:30 PM
Colorado Avalanche

Avalanche With Career Milestones in Sight in 2020-21 Season

Jan 21st 3:45 PM
Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning & Pat Maroon Are a Really Good Fit…For Now

Jan 21st 3:35 PM
Vegas Golden Knights

Golden Knights’ Depth Separates Them From the Rest

Jan 21st 3:15 PM
Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets’ Alexandre Texier, New Faces Shine to Begin Season

Jan 21st 2:45 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers News & Rumors: Neal, Yamamoto, Tippett, More

Jan 21st 2:15 PM
Column

Senators News & Rumours: Stützle, Norris, Galchenyuk and More

Editor’s Picks
NHL TV Blackouts & Why They Happen?

NHL TV Blackouts & Why They Happen?

The 1979 NHL – WHA Merger

The 1979 NHL – WHA Merger

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information