Letang’s rise means another high-flying Penguin
When Kris Letang(notes) was a kid, he liked to watch Paul Coffey, the sweet-skating, high-scoring defenseman who won three Norris Trophies and four Stanley Cups on his way to the Hall of Fame.
And now …
“He’s the guy I tell my kid to watch all the time,” Coffey said.
No one is comparing him to Coffey. But Letang, still only 23, is blossoming as a sweet-skating, high-scoring defenseman himself. He already has one Cup, and he already has become a Norris candidate.
Playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, one of Coffey’s (many) former teams, Letang ranks fourth in scoring among NHL defensemen this season with 33 points. He ranks third among all defensemen in plus-minus rating, at plus-20. No one else among the top 30 scoring D-men boasts a rating better than plus-13.
