News Article: Kovacevic: Time to trade Letang could be now

[Ogrezilla]

I simply don't see STL has a good trading partner anyhow.

no, because they'd want forwards, not D. Our only chance to trade with them is with futures or if they make a different trade first and need to replace a d-man.

 

[KIRK]

I wouldn't even entertain the discussion of Sutter and Despres for Stewart.

I'd want a good forward prospect coming back to consider it. Carrier may or may not be that.

I simply don't see STL as a good trading partner anyhow.

They may not be, but what I mentioned above was proposed by a STL fan.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I'd want a good forward prospect coming back to consider it. Carrier may or may not be that.



They may not be, but what I mentioned above was proposed by a STL fan.

I don't know a thing about any prospect from any other team. No clue. If we trade Sutter we are putting a nice big hole in our already weak bottom 6.

 

[Michael8771*]

They may not be, but what I mentioned above was proposed by a STL fan.

Considering they'd want both Despres and Sutter for Stewart that doesn't surprise me.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Considering they'd want both Despres and Sutter for Stewart that doesn't surprise me.

All they do is complain about Stewart on that board. Of course 1.5 more years of him is worth a stud young Dman and a solid 3c, both controlled.

 

[Ogrezilla]

All they do is complain about Stewart on that board. Of course 1.5 more years of him is worth a stud young Dman and a solid 3c, both controlled.

he's a really strange case because his value based on usage really doesn't match up with his value based on stats. His usage makes him seem like a throw away reclamation project. But even with that usage, he has 15 goals this year already, and he has scored right around a 30 goal pace every year but 1 since his rookie year, where he scored at a 20 goal pace. I honestly have no idea how much he would cost in a trade.

 

[Darth Vitale]

Reading the last couple pages of this thread I have to wonder if anyone watches STL / pays attention to their roster. Losing a good forward and adding Simon Despres to their bottom pairing (which is where he'd end up most likely) does not make their team better. Letang is a different story potentially, but we're getting carried away with our delusions about what Despres will bring in from other teams. Especially teams in a better position to win the Cup right now than we are.

Look for teams that are middle of the road or out of the playoff hunt, and/or lack young depth on D, and have some Bennett-like forwards they might be willing to part with. By Bennett-like I mean reasonably skilled, and good all-around players. Anaheim fits the last criteria well (several equivalent forward talents) but they are far from struggling, and they do have some good young (if green) defensemen. Colorado might fit the bill, Dallas might, Phoenix might, Vancouver might, Edmonton does but forget about Eberle and those guys -- they not in the picture for a Despres trade even if we toss in a 1st round pick (because it's a late pick).

STL, CHI, LA, those guys are not in the picture most likely.

 

[themethod7]

Reading the last couple pages of this thread I have to wonder if anyone watches STL / pays attention to their roster. Losing a good forward and adding Simon Despres to their bottom pairing (which is where he'd end up most likely) does not make their team better. Letang is a different story potentially, but we're getting carried away with our delusions about what Despres will bring in from other teams. Especially teams in a better position to win the Cup right now than we are.

Look for teams that are middle of the road or out of the playoff hunt, and/or lack young depth on D, and have some Bennett-like forwards they might be willing to part with. By Bennett-like I mean reasonably skilled, and good all-around players. Anaheim fits the last criteria well (several equivalent forward talents) but they are far from struggling, and they do have some good young (if green) defensemen. Colorado might fit the bill, Dallas might, Phoenix might, Vancouver might, Edmonton does but forget about Eberle and those guys -- they not in the picture for a Despres trade even if we toss in a 1st round pick (because it's a late pick).

STL, CHI, LA, those guys are not in the picture most likely.

That's just trade proposals 101, really (and sadly something that 90% of HF ignores) - consider what the other team actually needs/wants before throwing nonsense out there. I'd have to agree with most of the teams you mentioned (although I think Edmonton is still in the picture if Letang is on the table), and I'd think Dallas would have to be near the top of that list... it's just too bad there's about a 0% chance we could pry Nichushkin away from them.

 

[orby]

If the Pens really want to make a trade for a legit, non-rental first line winger, they are going to have to give up Maatta or Letang. Whether it's justified or not, no one is going to give up a stud for Despres. The league just hasn't seen enough of him at the NHL level to justify it.

 

[jmelm]

Maybe Letang just had a few minor bumps & bruises tonight and it made most sense for him to be the guy to sit out. Maybe Letang just wanted to be unselfish and volunteered to be the guy who sat out tonight. Maybe the Pens staff wanted to see how guys like Nisky and Maatta held up against one of the heaviest teams in the league.

Maybe they didn't want to sit Orpik or Nisky because it could indicate that they are not THAT important to this team, which could affect their trade value in a minor way.

Or....maybe the Pens' staff truly wanted to see what a defense minus Letang looked like, if there was serious contemplation to trade him. Who knows, but for "arguably" your best and most highly profiled Dman to be the one scratched, is a bit of a head-scratcher if he's truly healthy. This maybe a case where there's nothing here and it's simple over analysis; or it may be a case of where there's smoke there's fire.

Just saying, it caught me off guard, and there was no explanation (even a thinly veiled bogus one) as to why Letang was the guy who was sat out tonight. Food for thought, if nothing else.

 

[Waffle Fries]

Just saying, it caught me off guard, and there was no explanation (even a thinly veiled bogus one) as to why Letang was the guy who was sat out tonight. Food for thought, if nothing else.

He was sick.

 

[Michael8771*]

Maybe Letang just had a few minor bumps & bruises tonight and it made most sense for him to be the guy to sit out. Maybe Letang just wanted to be unselfish and volunteered to be the guy who sat out tonight. Maybe the Pens staff wanted to see how guys like Nisky and Maatta held up against one of the heaviest teams in the league.

Maybe they didn't want to sit Orpik or Nisky because it could indicate that they are not THAT important to this team, which could affect their trade value in a minor way.

Or....maybe the Pens' staff truly wanted to see what a defense minus Letang looked like, if there was serious contemplation to trade him. Who knows, but for "arguably" your best and most highly profiled Dman to be the one scratched, is a bit of a head-scratcher if he's truly healthy. This maybe a case where there's nothing here and it's simple over analysis; or it may be a case of where there's smoke there's fire.

Just saying, it caught me off guard, and there was no explanation (even a thinly veiled bogus one) as to why Letang was the guy who was sat out tonight. Food for thought, if nothing else.

This pretty much encapsulates my perspective on the matter as well. Couldn't agree more!

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

Soooo Letang out of the line-up again and the pens play an amazing all around and defensive game! The things that make ya go HMMMM...

 

[Hophog]

Soooo Letang out of the line-up again and the pens play an amazing all around and defensive game! The things that make ya go HMMMM...

I know. I want to like the guy and root for him to get out of his funk but then we have a game like this where we dominate on the PP without him. Put up 4 goals and only allow 1. There really is nothing that he could have brought to this game that could have improved it. I see only bad happening if he would have been involved and I'm not 100% sure why he would make that big of a difference one way or the other but the games he's been in this year vs. the one's he's been out of are almost night and day.

 

[Vujtek]

Pens have played amazing defensive games with Letang in the lineup too. The away game against Washington in November was probably one of the best games of all season. They shut down Caps completely with Letang logging the most TOI in that game. Caps offense > Kings offense.

 

[MrBurghundy]

He was sick.

Didn't look like it when he was laughing it up with his mom during the game.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Soooo Letang out of the line-up again and the pens play an amazing all around and defensive game! The things that make ya go HMMMM...

Noticed it during the game, honestly we wouldn't miss him as much as people think. The only one that kept raising my blood pressure last night was Orpik. He needs to go as well

 

[Captain Hook]

I wouldn't call the Kings game an amazing defensive performance. It probably was more about the Kings offensive woes than anything we did. I do like our PP better without Letang and it certainly was clicking without him last night. It was a huge factor in that game. LA is an offensively challenged team that is not built to play from behind or win games where they need to score 4 or 5 goals to win the game. The early Pens PP goals immediately took them out of their comfort zone, imo.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I wouldn't call the Kings game an amazing defensive performance. It probably was more about the Kings offensive woes than anything we did. I do like our PP better without Letang and it certainly was clicking without him last night. It was a huge factor in that game. LA is an offensively challenged team that is not built to play from behind or win games where they need to score 4 or 5 goals to win the game.

It's not about playing an amazing defensive game but it's also about limiting turnovers and when Letang is in the lineup it feels like we create more turnovers and offer more quality scoring chances. At one point you notice cause it's happened a lot this year the games he played in compared to the ones he didn't

 

[Shady Machine]

No need for Letang conspiracy theories. He likely WAS sick, since he missed practice the day before, and was getting better. Since it's the mom's trip, they likely wanted to give Bort a game and chose the recovering sick dude to sit. It seems pretty logical and a decision I would make if I were Bylsma.

*insert sarcastic comment about Bylsma and logic not mixing*

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Nothing has changed. We're a better team when Robert Bortuzzo is in the lineup. Brooks Orpik still sucks. Simon Despres should be in the NHL right now, and we don't need both Matt Niskanen and Kris Letang, so one of them needs to be traded.

Our blueline looks fairly cut and dry from my perspective.

 

[Rocket of Russia]

I know. I want to like the guy and root for him to get out of his funk but then we have a game like this where we dominate on the PP without him. Put up 4 goals and only allow 1. There really is nothing that he could have brought to this game that could have improved it. I see only bad happening if he would have been involved and I'm not 100% sure why he would make that big of a difference one way or the other but the games he's been in this year vs. the one's he's been out of are almost night and day.

The Kings have scored a whopping 3 goals in their last 5 games. They aren’t exactly an offensive dynamo. And surprisingly enough Zatkoff made some big saves when the Pens were in shutdown mode allowing chances.

Solid defensive effort was because Letang was out. Buffalo shutout was because? Buf and LA are 30th and 29th in goals scored. I wouldn’t put much stock in it either way.

He was sick.

Didn't look like it when he was laughing it up with his mom during the game.

This is where we are now? This is a reasonable statement? How Melnykesque.

 

[penguins2946*]

The Kings are really bad offensively. The Pens looking good minus Letang yesterday is more if a testament to the Kings' offensive woes than Letang's poor defensive play.

 

[ObsessedCreative*]

Pens have played amazing defensive games with Letang in the lineup too. The away game against Washington in November was probably one of the best games of all season. They shut down Caps completely with Letang logging the most TOI in that game. Caps offense > Kings offense.

The caps are and over-all garbage team.

The kings are a much more well rounded team, using that caps game to make your point is laughable.

 

[Pens1566]

The caps are and over-all garbage team.

The kings are a much more well rounded team, using that caps game to make your point is laughable.

Regardless of which one is a better overall team, one of them is much more offensively gifted. That is the differentiation, and it's entirely valid to point out. LA couldn't score on a dead hooker lately.