Penguins' Kris Letang finding his stride after long offseason of rehab and more trade speculation

Matt Vensel / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

TORONTO — As is always the case when Sidney Crosby comes into town, a horde of Canadian reporters swarmed the hockey icon at his stall Saturday morning.

One topic that came up inside that scrum was the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament, for which Crosby is the leading candidate to be named Team Canada’s captain. Is that international showcase already on his mind early in the Penguins’ season?

Across the visiting dressing room at Scotiabank Arena sat another accomplished Canadian player, a possible Hall of Famer one day. Only a few acknowledged him.

Kris Letang might not have minded that he wasn’t being bombarded with similar questions, allowing him to keep his focus on that night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hours later, he scored a power play goal in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 loss.

Like Crosby, Letang is trying to deny Father Time and play at a high level at 37.

The defenseman feels “pretty good” physically after injuries affected his play down the stretch last season and forced him to spend much of this summer rehabbing. His ice time is down slightly in the early going, but he is building chemistry with new partner Matt Grzelcyk and getting re-acclimated on the top power play.

Of course, Letang would love to finally get the opportunity to represent his country on the biggest stage — first at the 4 Nations Faceoff and then the Olympics in 2026. But he is resigned to the fact he will overlooked by Team Canada yet again.

Chatting quietly with the Post-Gazette on Saturday morning in Toronto, Letang was diplomatic when speaking about it, saying Canada has a lot of great options.

“I wish I could have been selected. I wish,” he shrugged. “But when you look at it, who are you moving out? Are you taking [Drew] Doughty off? Or [Cale] Makar? At the end of the day, they could make two teams. But I don’t take it personally.”

One thing Letang definitely does take personally is the plight of the Penguins the past two years. Sitting out the playoffs is not something he wants to get used to.

With the Penguins heading into what looks like a transition year in 2024-25, there was more talk up here in Canada about whether the Big Three could or should be broken up. Even back in Pittsburgh, there was chatter about Letang being dealt.

“People need to write something or talk about something, I guess,” Letang said.

Letang says he still remains committed to the Penguins, especially now that Crosby has signed a contract extension that can keep them together through 2026-27.

“I kind of expected it, but the way that he signed — the terms of everything — it just tells you how much he is committed to try to win. He wants to have success with the Penguins,” Letang said. “I’m super excited. Obviously, we have a pretty tight relationship, so it would have sucked to not have him back with our team.”

It was an unusual offseason for Letang in other ways. His family has moved from his hometown of Montreal to California full time. So after training for 14 years with friend Jon Chaimberg back in Montreal, Letang had to adjust to a new routine.

Letang’s training was also impacted by the injuries he suffered last season, which included a fractured finger on his left hand that required surgery in early May.

“I was not allowed to do any upper-body [exercises] for most of the summer,” he said. “Toward the end of July, I was kind of able to grab a stick and go on the ice.”

In the gym, Letang could still target his lower body and core — the most important areas for a hockey player. So he doesn’t feel he is too hampered at the moment.

He is still working to get his timing back. Around the league, there has been much discussion about preseason play, but he lamented the fact that with the way their schedule fell this year he didn’t get to face a full NHL roster in any exhibitions.

“It’s a long season. You prepare for the long season. You don’t just prepare for the first 10 games. So we’ll see,” Letang said. “I think my legs will be in good shape.”

They sure looked OK Saturday when he raced back to break up a 2-on-1.

Letang was Pittsburgh’s best all-around defenseman — again — before injuries hit him last season. Despite his dip in performance, he still finished with 10 goals, 51 points and a plus-13 rating in 82 games, also playing solidly on the penalty kill.

Through three games this season, he has a goal and an assist but also a minus-3 rating. He was on the ice for two goals against Saturday, though neither looked to be his fault. Letang’s coach acknowledged his game has been a bit up and down.

“I think he’s building it,” Mike Sullivan said after the loss in Toronto. “Obviously, he’s an elite player, so we have such high expectations for him. The goal he gets [Saturday] was a really nice goal. I hope that will boost his confidence a little bit.”

Letang believes he will round into form soon enough. And he is focused getting the Penguins back to the playoffs, not trying to get back onto Team Canada’s radar.

“I think I need to play a solid 5-on-5 game and then bring whatever I can on special teams. That’s going to be important,” he said. “But I need to be solid in my zone, bring some offense from the back end. I want to be a solid, two-way defenseman.”