Will this be Letang’s best season yet?
It's been a rollercoaster year as far as Pittsburgh Penguins rearguard, Kris Letang is concerned. We are now less than 11 months removed from when the then-26-year-old's wife, Catherine "found him lying on the floor of their home, alert but unable to function"; a product of suffering a stroke at an insanely premature stage in life.
"Could it be the end of his playing days at 26 years of age?" is a questions that surely he, the Letang family, teammates, Penguin's staff, analysts and fans alike were certainly thinking upon hearing the shocking news.
Letang missed 45 games as he took every step to nurse himself back to health. He would go on to return just on time for the playoffs, only a few months later. However, the lurking questions regarding whether or not he would ever be the same player continued to percolate.
Points
%Total
Points
PP
LETANG,KRISTOPHER
11
52.38%
EV
LETANG,KRISTOPHER – MARTIN,PAUL
5
23.81%
EV
EHRHOFF,CHRISTIAN – LETANG,KRISTOPHER
2
9.52%
EV
DESPRES,SIMON – LETANG,KRISTOPHER
2
9.52%
SH
LETANG,KRISTOPHER – MARTIN,PAUL
1
4.76%
With Martin, it's very much the opposite, being afforded a leash to play his most effective style of game, the liberal offensive nature, allowing him to produce at a fair level when partnered up.
You can really see the defensive strides he's been making with much higher Hits & Blocked Shots rates than in recent years. Letang has already usurped last season's hits tally of 43 with 45, despite playing 12 less games. On Thursday night, despite not registering any points, he put together a five-hit, four-block performance. The combined nine tallies was the best Hit/Blocks combination he's put together all year.
Going forward you can expect Letang to continue on in a pace with will line him up for a new career high. Even if his output slips a little, I still fully expect him to make a strong run at a 60-point campaign.
(Give Anthony Lancione a follow on Twitter @Anthisdaman)
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