I don’t watch much Letang following SJS so I can’t say who is better. I know Letang is a pretty good offensive dman. I also know he is oft injured and plays a more one dimensional game.

I can say Burns is a rarity in this game. To be 6’5” 230lbs and be as mobile as a winger ten years younger than him is crazy. He has improved his defensive game quite a lot, he does get caught cheating but that’s becuase his main objective is to score or set up goals. His hands, shot from the point, skating and passing are all still elite at 34 years old.

If I had to pick between them ten times, I’m taking Burns every single time. In terms of offensive production from the blue line the only defenseman that statistically can compare is his teammate Erik Karlsson. All this said, I don’t do advanced/fancy stats, I’m sure someone here can dig up a a bunch of numbers I don’t care to understand lol.

Thanks for answering. What do you mean by one dimensional?

This might be from my lack of knowing Pens hockey but I’m under the impression that Letang is not the best in his own end. I could be totally wrong. I have only watched the pens closely once and that was during the finals against the sharks in 2016.

Well, Letang's main issue is he turns the puck over a lot. He's actually great in his own end, very good positioning and active using his body and stick to suppress opportunities. If you watched the 2016 cup finals, surely you would recall Letang being a dominant force for the Penguins at both ends of the ice.

I don’t recall him being overly dominant in his own end. Like I said, I’ve not watched him much. So I am sure he possesses qualities I am not aware of.

Ehh...I wouldn’t put too much stock into that. He was really overshadowed by HBK, Rust, and Sheary all breaking out in the playoffs. Geno playing with Eric Fehr didn’t help him any either.

To be fair, Fehr in his prime was a solid power forward. And honestly, Geno was playing through the post season with a serious elbow injury that required surgery afterwards. He was unbelievable during that 2017 cup run though.

Eh, I mean he had his moment. He was just a great Puck Driver.

Well in that series Letang was playing 32 minutes again and the Penguins heavily outplayed the Sharks in every game with more zone time, possession, shots generated and scoring chances. So yeah, I think 2016 we got to see Letang at his best, he was controlling zone exits and breakouts, hardly ever got caught in his own end.

I always hear Jim Hughson praising him for his skating and puck moving abilities. Was he better than Letang?

Who do you guys think will be the better player, Jack Hughes or Alexis Lafreniere?

Hughes...for sure

Can you explain why? Honestly I think Lafreniere is the best player available since McDavid. We will have a chance to watch him closely this year. He’s not as flashy as Hughes but certainly more efficient. His puck protection and agility remind of Crosby. His vision, passing, link up play, shot and positioning is exceptional. Plus he plays a complete game and is physical like Stone.

Oh definitely...Scott Wilson contributed so much to geno’s Success in ‘17 because he went into the corners and got Geno the puck in the slot.

People forget about him since he didn't score a lot of goals but he always did the dirty work. Honestly he's not top 6 quality but he provided some much needed balance for Phil and Geno. Remember when Phil and Geno clashed on the bench against the Senators?

Idk, but I haven't watched either. Why is Lafreniere not signed yet with the Kings? Maybe we won't see him tonight. Hughes is good for me because of he skating and jhigh level of movement.

Disagree strongly, we will see how Hughes fairs in the nhl, I don’t see him being dominant.

I was at that game and after Phil finally scored that arena was absolutely electric.

Were you afraid that the Penguins might get eliminated by the Senators?

Yes, Hughes has his skating and stick handling for sure. But I think you mixed up Lafreniere with Turcotte? Lafreniere is due for the 2020 NHL Draft.

That entire OT during game 7 I was absolutely horrified that murray was going to let a clunker go in. It’s surprising how close Ottawa was to doing the thing...makes their current situation kinda sad now.

At best, he will be on Kane's level. Maybe more highly regarded cuz he is a centre.

I didn't watch game 7, I had just come home from a music performance and wanted to rest. When I checked my phone in the third period, it was 3-3. I thought "oh well" and went to sleep. Much to my surprise the Penguins won. In my opinion, they deserved to win because they heavily outplayed the Senators in pretty much all the games. What'd you think?

Probably Lafreniere.

Yeah I agree, he reminds me of Crosby plus is a very good all round player. We shall see how he turns out.