Kris Letang doesn’t want to be “Jeff Cartered”? The Penguins and Kris Letang found middle ground this morning, reaching an agreement on the numbers of a new deal ($8 years – $58 million). It led to the Penguins taking Letang off the trade block as the two sides intended to finalize the contract and work on the language of the no trade clause this afternoon with expectations of the deal being completed today.
The Penguins have been met with a few hiccups on getting official completion of the contract, despite the two sides agreeing on the term and money. One has been the language of the no trade clause (Limited- accept a trade to 15 teams), something both sides were confident in being resolved as of late this morning, but there appears to be one more issue.
Rob Rossi of the Tribune-Review reports Letang is pushing for a verbal agreement from the team that he won’t be traded next summer before his new deal and no trade clause kicks in next July.
Letang’s camp had no comment when reached by phone.
I have not been able to confirm this yet, but this does not come as a real surprise, as despite the Penguins dishing out nearly a $60 million contract to Letang, he’s been very sensitive throughout the process believing the Penguins don’t respect him enough. One official told me tonight Letang and his agent Kent Hughes don’t trust the Penguins for some reason.
Players getting traded before their no trade clause kicks in, has been a concern for some agents out there since Jeff Carter was traded by Philadelphia to Columbus, but there’s nothing you can do. Carter signed an an 11-year, $58 Million contract extension with the Flyers on November 13, 2010, only to be traded that summer before his new deal and no trade clause kicked in.