Penguins sign Letang to four-year extension
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PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - The Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Kris Letang to a four-year contract extension, the team said on their website (http://penguins.nhl.com) Tuesday.
Securing him to a long-term deal had been a priority for general manager Ray Shero who has locked up a core of young players having already signed forwards Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal and netminder Marc-Andre Fleury to multi-year contracts.
Taken in the third round of the 2005 draft by the Penguins, Letang has played 211 NHL games and scored 21 goals and 79 points.
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This season the 22-year-old has set a new career-high with 24 assists and seen his workload increase with added time on the powerplay and penalty killing units.
(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto, editing by Tony Jimenez)