Madden Monday: Kris Letang and Ron Hextall are 'further apart on money' than we've been told

During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X and TribLIVE provided a less-than-optimistic update for those that want to see free-agent defenseman Kris Letang stay in a Pittsburgh Penguins uniform.

“Letang and (general manager Ron) Hextall are further apart on money than what I had originally been told,” Madden said.

That echoes a recent report from Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman, who said that Letang and the Penguins are $1.25 million apart per year in terms of average annual value. But Madden said the difference is greater than that.

“If Letang doesn’t stay, it guarantees that the Penguins won’t make the playoffs in 2022-23. Absolutely, 100% guarantees it,” Madden insisted.

But Madden isn’t completely put off by that notion if the Penguins start rebuilding the team the right way heading into the final three years of Sidney Crosby’s contract. However, he doesn’t like the prospect of the Pens potentially letting Letang walk while using some of the cash that would be left behind to pay center Evgeni Malkin and keep him instead.

“The reasonable play is to keep Letang and make changes around him, including trading a couple of defensemen and giving Pierre-Olivier Joseph his shot. Finally,” Madden said. “I think that is reasonable because it gets you in the playoffs, but you are changing the team. The bad thing to do is to let Letang go, and then, by way of placating Sid, you keep Malkin. … It’s very easy to see that happening.”

Regarding Friedman’s suggestion on “The Pat McAfee Show” that ex-Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has a chance of returning to Pittsburgh, Madden isn’t buying that.

“I can’t think of one good reason to bring back Marc-Andre Fleury,” Madden said. “A: He won’t want to be a backup. B: You’d have to pay him way too much. You can’t use a bunch of cap money on a backup goalie. C: If you bring him in to start, where does that leave Tristan Jarry? D: Marc-Andre Fleury is 37 years old.”

Generally speaking, Madden’s biggest problem with a lot of Penguins analysis of late is that it seems to center around keeping a core of players that have been together for 17 years.

“I just don’t get the predilection for never moving on. … I mean, never moving on. Never mind keeping Malkin and Letang. People want to bring back Fleury now? I’m a huge Fleury fan. But you’ve got to move on. For God’s sakes, you’ve just got to!” Madden said.

Also, during the podcast, Madden and I try to figure out what Hextall might be thinking in terms of a long-term plan. We dive into lots of Steelers offseason talk. Then we dissect what the Pirates might do at the trade deadline.

Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden talk Penguins hockey, Steelers offseason and Pirates trades