Is Kris Letang Elite?

Living in the Pittsburgh area and being a Penguins fan all I ever hear is how good defenseman Kris Letang is, something I have always vehemently disagreed with.  Fans in this area are quick to place him in the same category as Erik Karlsson, Duncan Keith, Drew Doughty, Victor Hedman, and P.K. Subban.  I have never considered him to be even remotely close to the caliber of player that these other defensemen are.  I have always thought of Letang as a quality offensive defenseman who can recover from his mistakes with his speed and skating ability.  However, when it comes to playing one-on-one against some of the game's most elite offensive talents, I think he suffers.  Now, with the latest news that he will be missing 4-6 months following surgery for a herniated disc in his neck, it seems that Letang never plays a full season or close to one for that matter.  I wanted to determine if my speculations, that Letang is in fact not an elite defenseman but just a good one, are in fact true.  I will look at his Hockey-Reference page and compare his stats (games played, goals, points, advanced metrics, etc.) and compared them with the other defensemen's numbers and see what I find.  As I write this I actually have no idea what I will find and am trying to be as objective as possible.

*All stats are of 4/5/17*

Kris Letang

• Signed for 5 more seasons with an annual cap hit of $7.25 million
• Has never represented Team Canada at a best-on-best tournament

Traditional Statistics

Season	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Powerplay Goals	Powerplay Assists	Shooting %
2012-13	25	35	5	33	1	12	5.3
2013-14	26	37	11	11	6	6	10.2
2014-15	27	69	11	43	2	22	5.6
2015-16	28	71	16	51	5	22	7.3
2016-17	29	41	5	29	2	12	4.1

Advanced Metrics

Season	Average Time on Ice	Blocks	Corsi For %	PDO	Offensive Zone Start %	Defensive Zone Start %	Award Voting Finish
2012-13	25:38	59	54.5	103.3	48.7	51.3	Norris – 3
2013-14	24:14	51	49.4	97.4	53.7	46.3
2014-15	25:29	117	56.0	100.7	56.1	43.9	Norris – 8
2015-16	26:57	122	54.9	99.0	54.1	45.9	Norris – 4
2016-17	25:31	70	52.9	99.8	54.8	45.2

• In addition to these three seasons with Norris Trophy votes, Letang also finished in the top ten in voting twice prior to this five season window.  Letang seemed to progress and become a better defenseman every season before this year, seeing his highest average time on ice, most points, his Corsi For Percentage was the second highest of his career and he blocked the most shots last season. Last season was also the year that he became as well-rounded as he has ever shown.  Part of the peak he reached last season could be due in part to the fact that he has been seeing more offensive zone starts than at any other point in his career, well over 50%.  Letang has been asked to do less and less in terms of being a true shutdown defenseman, instead giving way to more defensively-minded defensemen such as Ian Cole or Trevor Daley.  This season, Letang's development has appeared to plateau as his production has been one of the lowest points of his career and his shooting percentage is the lowest of this five-year sample.  His Corsi For Percentage has also now dropped for the second consecutive season, something that is alarming for a top pairing defenseman.

Duncan Keith - Chicago Blackhawks

• Signed for 6 more seasons with an annual cap hit of $5,538,462
• Represented Team Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics

Traditional Statistics

Season	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Powerplay Goals	Powerplay Assists	Shooting %
2012-13	29	47	3	24	2	8	3.3
2013-14	30	79	6	55	3	18	3.0
2014-15	31	80	10	35	3	13	5.8
2015-16	32	67	9	34	4	14	6.9
2016-17	33	79	6	45	2	13	3.3

Advanced Metrics

Season	Average Time on Ice	Blocks	Corsi For %	PDO	Offensive Zone Start %	Defensive Zone Start %	Award Voting Finish
2012-13	24:07	66	52.3	103.1	54.4	45.6	Norris – 6
2013-14	24:39	89	56.8	100.4	57.6	42.4	Norris – 1 Hart – 15
2014-15	25:34	113	56.3	100.3	54.4	45.6	Norris – 7 Conn Smythe - 1
2015-16	25:14	116	52.9	101.2	46.9	53.1	Norris – 11
2016-17	25:40	106	50.7	102.9	53.0	47.0

• Duncan Keith is the premium of all defensemen in the NHL today.  He has won two Norris Trophies and has received votes every season since 2007-08.  He has been an integral part of the Blackhawks' three Stanley Cups and has anchored their defense group for each of them.  He continues to be an elite defenseman both offensively and defensively as he ages, posting a positive Corsi For each of the past five seasons, a PDO over 100.0 in each season, and is on the ice for nearly half of each game.  He is perhaps the best example of a true number one defenseman in the league.  He will be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday.

Erik Karlsson - Ottawa Senators

• Signed for 2 more seasons with an annual cap hit of $6.5 million
• Represented Team Sweden at the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2016 World Cup of Hockey

Traditional Statistics

Season	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Powerplay Goals	Powerplay Assists	Shooting %
2012-13	22	17	6	8	2	2	7.6
2013-14	23	82	20	54	5	26	7.8
2014-15	24	82	21	45	6	24	7.2
2015-16	25	82	16	66	1	25	6.5
2016-17	26	77	17	54	4	23	7.8

Advanced Metrics

Season	Average Time on Ice	Blocks	Corsi For %	PDO	Offensive Zone Start %	Defensive Zone Start %	Award Voting Finish
2012-13	27:09	14	59.4	101.8	58.9	41.1	Norris - 18
2013-14	27:04	101	54.1	99.3	55.5	44.5	Norris – 7
2014-15	27:15	89	53.0	100.9	53.3	46.7	Norris – 1 Hart – 9
2015-16	28:58	175	52.1	99.3	55.3	44.7	Norris – 2 Hart – 9
2016-17	26:50	201	50.1	100.8	52.9	47.1

• Karlsson is the defenseman who most identifies with what is expected from someone elite at the position in today's NHL.  He has continued to emerge as the best offensive defenseman in the league and he has become nearly a point-per-game player at the blueline, something that rarely happens.  He also plays nearly every game, having appeared 82 games each of the past three seasons, only missing time in the 2012-13 season as a result of having his Achilles tendon slashed by Matt Cooke.  He has also missed a few games this season but should return healthy for the playoffs.  Karlsson has constantly been overlooked by hockey fans as a good defender and has taken a lot of criticism for not devoting enough attention to his defensive game.  That has changed significantly over the past two seasons, blocking more shots than ever before and has begun having more of his shift starts occur in the defensive zone.  Karlsson is not just one of the best defensemen in hockey but also one of the game's best overall and most exciting players.

Drew Doughty - Los Angeles Kings

• Signed for 2 more seasons with an annual cap hit of $7 million
• Represented Team Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics and at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey

Traditional Statistics

Season	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Powerplay Goals	Powerplay Assists	Shooting %
2012-13	23	48	6	16	3	7	5.3
2013-14	24	78	10	27	6	10	5.6
2014-15	25	82	7	39	1	16	3.2
2015-16	26	82	14	37	9	15	7.1
2016-17	27	79	10	32	4	14	5.8

Advanced Metrics

Season	Average Time on Ice	Blocks	Corsi For %	PDO	Offensive Zone Start %	Defensive Zone Start %	Award Voting Finish
2012-13	26:24	46	57.8	99.1	54.9	45.1	Norris – 9
2013-14	25:43	91	58.0	100.5	54.7	45.3	Norris – 6
2014-15	28:00	144	55.4	98.3	52.9	48.1	Norris -2 Hart – 17
2015-16	28:01	105	58.1	101.2	55.9	44.1	Norris – 1 Hart – 11
2016-17	27:13	105	55.3	99.7	54.3	45.7

• Drew Doughty finally won his Norris Trophy last season after finished second the season before. He is another defenseman in the same mold as Karlsson but has consistently played quality defense.  Each of the past five seasons, he has played more than 25 minutes per game and has only missed a total of seven games over that span.  He has also been an elite puck possessor, finishing with a Corsi For percentage over 55 the last five seasons.  Doughty is also the type of player who plays his best hockey in the playoffs, having been an integral part of the Kings' two Stanley Cups.

Victor Hedman - Tampa Bay Lightning

• Signed for 8 more seasons with an annual cap hit of $7.875 million
• Represented Team Sweden at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey

Traditional Statistics

Season	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Powerplay Goals	Powerplay Assists	Shooting %
2012-13	22	44	4	16	0	2	5.3
2013-14	23	75	13	42	3	11	7.6
2014-15	24	59	10	28	3	8	8.7
2015-16	25	78	10	47	1	10	5.6
2016-17	26	76	15	52	4	28	9.4

Advanced Metrics

Season	Average Time on Ice	Blocks	Corsi For %	PDO	Offensive Zone Start %	Defensive Zone Start %	Award Voting Finish
2012-13	22:40	84	48.2	100.7	42.5	57.5
2013-14	22:26	101	53.9	99.2	55.4	44.6	Norris – 9
2014-15	22:41	111	53.3	100.7	59.6	40.4
2015-16	23:04	132	55.6	101.0	56.6	43.4	Norris – 7
2016-17	24:25	126	52.5	100.3	57.9	42.1

• Victor Hedman is the only member of this list besides Letang to have never won a Norris Trophy but that will most likely change in the near future.  He has consistently been given more responsibility and has emerged as the Lightning's best defenseman.  His average time on ice has grown each of the past five seasons and he has allowed his offensive game to develop more in the past two seasons than ever before, already setting career highs in goals, assists, and shooting percentage..  With Steven Stamkos out, Hedman has stepped up his game and has, along with Nikita Kucherov, helped keep the team in the playoff hunt.

P.K. Subban - Nashville Predators

• Signed for 5 more seasons with an annual cap hit of $9 million
• Represented Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics

Traditional Statistics

Season	Age	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Powerplay Goals	Powerplay Assists	Shooting %
2012-13	23	42	11	27	7	19	8.7
2013-14	24	82	10	43	4	19	4.9
2014-15	25	82	15	45	8	13	8.8
2015-16	26	68	6	45	2	22	3.4
2016-17	27	64	10	28	3	13	7.1

Advanced Metrics

Season	Average Time on Ice	Blocks	Corsi For %	PDO	Offensive Zone Start %	Defensive Zone Start %	Award Voting Finish
2012-13	23:15	49	56.7	101.1	54.6	45.4	Norris – 1 Hart – 13
2013-14	24:47	125	50.5	100.3	47.6	52.4	Norris – 14
2014-15	26:12	142	52.2	101.9	50.3	49.7	Norris – 3 Hart – 16
2015-16	26:22	80	52.8	100.5	51.5	48.5	Norris – 14
2016-17	24:30	101	54.7	97.4	47.4	52.6

• P.K. Subban is the defenseman most Penguins fans are most likely to be mad over after Subban cut Jordan Staal's foot in the 2010 playoffs.  Regardless of that, Subban must be included on any list involving the league's best defensemen.  Subban has won a Norris Trophy and has finished in the top five in voting one other time.  Subban received a lot of criticism while playing in Montreal for not being a well-rounded enough of a defenseman, but that simply isn't true.  He is one of the game's elite offensive defensemen, certainly, but he is also been a positive puck possessor each of the past five seasons and has also received more of his zone starts in the defensive zone two of the past five seasons.

Conclusion

• After performing this research, I don't think that there is any other conclusion to make than that Kris Letang is not elite.  Comparing his to this group of defensemen, one that doesn't even include Brent Burns, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Kevin Shattenkirk, or Alex Pietrangelo, Letang isn't even in the same category.  He has always struggled to remain healthy, something that I continue to argue is a skill, isn't as good of a puck possessor as the rest of them, has regressed severely this season, has never finished higher than third in Norris Trophy voting, and has never represented his country in any best-on-best tournament like the rest of them have.  When Letang is healthy and on top of his game, I believe the argument can be made for him to be a top-five defensemen, but overall, I don't think he is even a top ten defenseman.  I would take every other player I have referred to in this article over Letang except for perhaps Ryan Suter.  Letang is good, but not elite and certainly not worth the $7.25 million he is paid per season.

*All stats come from hockey-reference.com and all salary information was retrieved from capfriendly.com.*