What if the Penguins Keep Geno and Tanger?
No, the title of this article isn’t a misprint. And you’re not seeing things. You read it right.
To digress, just about everyone (including yours truly) thinks there’s a slim-to-none chance of franchise icons and pending UFAs Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang sticking with our Penguins. An unsubstantiated rumor’s been making the rounds that GM Ron Hextall offered each a three-year extension for $15 million (an AAV of $5 million).
No way either one of them re-signs for that. Letang has expressed a desire to play into his 40s, and at age 35 he’s coming off arguably the finest season of his career. Considering all that he brings to the table, he’ll draw more (perhaps considerably more) than the $7.25 million he presently rakes in.
And Geno? Although he’s hinted that he might be willing to accept a hometown discount to stick around, I doubt if he’d be amenable to having his present $9.5 million salary virtually cut in half. Again, someone’s going to offer him more.
However, a PenguinPoop reader made a compelling argument in a recent comment for re-upping Geno and Tanger and providing them with a stronger supporting cast.