THN.com Blog: Letang emerging as another Penguins star
Earlier in the season, if Kris Letang had one point in his past nine outings, my take would have been that he wasn’t doing much out there.
And I would have been dead wrong.
I know that now because last week I had my first chance this year to see the 23-year-old Letang play in person. Further to that, my seat in the press box offered the perfect bird’s-eye perspective to appreciate Letang’s astute decision-making in all three zones.
I’ll be honest: when Letang was up near the top of the defense scoring charts early in the season, I assumed he was an offense-minded player who was benefiting from some superb teammates. He just seemed to fit that flashy-but-flimsy mold perfectly. From afar, that is. Now that I’ve seen him from above, I have a whole new appreciation. (And I’m not the only one; I’d say skip to No. 20, but it’s all a good read)
The first thing that keyed me into Letang’s growth was a conversation I had in November with Pens assistant coach Todd Reirden. The discussion was actually about the success Letang and former Pittsburgh D-man Alex Goligoski were having at the time and Reirden touched on the fact the organization had asked both burgeoning players to take bigger roles on the team in a number of capacities.
“It’s something we challenged them with this summer and I think both of them have stepped up in terms of their leadership, saying things on the bench and knowing how we want to play,” Reirden said. “That’s been the biggest difference for me.”
