Why looming uptick in Letang's PK usage might be a good thing

Kris Letang — Photo via AP

It was clear from the opening day of free agency this Summer that improving the Penguins’ team defense was of major importance to Kyle Dubas as he began to make his mark on the roster.

Each of Ryan Graves, Lars Eller, Noel Acciari and Matt Nieto — signed by Dubas on July 1 — come as defense-first skaters who should help the Penguins’ ability to limit quality chances against to a greater degree than the players they’ll be replacing.

As I outlined a couple of weeks ago, it’ll take more than personnel changes for the Penguins to truly improve defensively, but each of those signings were a nice step in that direction.

They should also bring needed improvement to the penalty-kill that ranked 16th in the NHL last season in efficiency (79.1%), 18th in expected goals against per hour (8.16) and 23rd in shot attempts against per hour (105.8), according to Evolving-Hockey.

It might be a player who has been around all along, however, that serves as the biggest influence on the penalty-kill’s (potential) improvement next season: Kris Letang.