Pittsburgh Penguins Kris Letang signs with SKA Saint Petersburg of KHL -NHL Update
The National Hockey League (NHL) lockout has finally affected some of the best in the league as Pittsburgh Penguins’ Kris Letang reportedly signed with the SKA Saint Petersburg team of the Russian, Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on Friday, January 4, 2013.
The news was made official by the Russian club as they made the announcement on their website the same day and will most likely be joining the franchise as soon as this Sunday. He will be joining a roster that includes New Jersey Devils’ veteran, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vladimir Tarasenko and Philadelphia Flyers’ Sergei Bobrovsky.
It has now been over 100 days since the leading hockey league of North America was locked out with the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement came to an end on September 15, 2012, after being signed following a 2004-2005 locked out regular season.
Kris Letang is a 25-year-old defenseman from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Penguins as the 62nd overall back in round-three of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He has played six seasons in the major league thus far, by making his debut back in 2006-2007 in which he had seven games and two goals in total.
Now, the young defender has 350 games under his belt along with 171 points (39 goals, 132 assists) and 237 minutes in penalty time. Last season was one of his best with 42 points (10 goals, 32 assists) in 51 games, seen to be better than his career high season of 82 games and 50 points (8 goals, 42 assists) back in 2010-2011.
Out of the six seasons he has to his name with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kris Letang has five years of experience in the playoffs and a Stanley Cup with them as well for a total of 65 games and 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists).
Currently, Kris Letang is on a four-year contract with a total worth of $14 million with an annual salary cap hit of $3.5 million.
It will definitely be interesting to follow the leading Pittsburgh Penguins’ defenseman when he plays in the Russian hockey league as fans look forward to his Sunday debut.
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