Letang, 26, had a bout with nausea and dizziness last week before a road trip, Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said in a release. He was tested this week in Pittsburgh. The Penguins say a hole in his heart, present from birth but only just found, may have led to the condition. He's being treated with blood thinners and will re-evaluated in six weeks.
Letang, a finalist for the Norris Trophy last season, said in the release he hoped making his condition public would encourage others to seek help, "regardless of their age or general health."
"It obviously was a shock to get the news, but I'm optimistic that I can overcome this and get back on the ice," he said.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Letang had his episode before leaving for the Penguins' West Coast trip last week. He did not play in the first game against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, and tests continued thereafter. Bylsma said the stroke possibility was raised in Phoenix after the team left LA, but there was no certainty in Letang's condition until Thursday.
That uncertainty led to speculation about Letang's injury and, potentially, whether the team was thinking of trading him.
"We didn't really feel like we had the ability to come out and say what was going on," Bylsma said, adding that few beyond himself knew of specifics surrounding the situation until Thursday afternoon.
"I'm not sure what (the players') reaction was totally to the news, and what the news was," Bylsma said.
Letang missed time earlier this season after an infection in his elbow and subsequent operation. He has 10 goals and 18 points in 34 games and signed an eight-year, $58 million contract extension after last season.
"Kris Letang is a — there's a few special players in the league," Bylsma said. "Luckily we have a couple of them here. Kris is a special player. He has special skills, and he can bring something to the game that not every player can bring. His skating ability, his shot, his offensive ability — it's special, and you can't replace that."
Pittsburgh has strong organizational depth on defense; Paul Martin and Brooks Orpik are United States Olympians. Matt Niskanen is in the middle of a breakout season. Olli Maatta is a Calder candidate. Rob Scuderi is a still-solid veteran. Other younger players, like Robert Bortuzzo and Simon Despres, haven't yet found consistent spots in the lineup, and the prospect cupboard is full.
Still, none of those guys are Letang, and the team will miss him for however much time he misses.
"Have we played a number of games without him this year, and had our power play be fine? Yes, we've been able to do that," Bylsma said. "But you can't replace (Letang by) filling in with the next guy up."
FINLAND LOSES TWO
Another day, another player out for the 2014 Olympic Games.
Yesterday it was Henrik Sedin and Marian Gaborik. Today it’s Tampa Bay Lightning and Finland forward Valtteri Filppula, who left last night’s game against the Maple Leafs with what has been revealed as a fractured right ankle. The injury is expected to keep Filppula out for three weeks.
The 29-year-old Filppula was on pace to have his best statistical season, scoring 20 times and assisting on 21 other tallies in 56 games. Filppula did have a 23-goal, 43-assist season back in 2011-12 with the Red Wings, but that came over the full 82-game campaign.
The good news for Filppula is that the two-week break means he may not miss a lot of NHL time, which is also good news for a Lightning squad that is 4-5-1 in their last ten. The bad news is obvious — Filppula was a game away from representing Finland in the Sochi games. He was part of the 2010 team that won bronze in Vancouver.
A replacement has not yet been named by Team Finland. It may need more than one, unfortunately, as the Star Tribune reports Minnesota Wild Center Mikko Koivu will also miss the games with a broken ankle he sustained on January 4. It would have been Koivu's third Olympics — he received Bronze in '10 and was part of the squad that won Silver in '06.
In other Olympic injury news, after rumors pegged center Mikael Backlund as the replacement for Henrik Sedin, Team Sweden instead named Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson to the team. The 23-year-old Johansson has scored seven times and assisted on 29 others in 58 games this season. Here’s what Sean Gentille said about Johansson a few weeks ago when he was considered an option to replace Johan Franzen:
On the other end of the spectrum is Johansson, who plays on a line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and, against all odds, has one even-strength goal on 54 shots this season. That, as noted by Japers Rink, is more bad luck than anything, and the Caps as a whole struggle at 5-on-5. Johansson is certainly productive on the power play (six goals).
Advanced metrics like Backlund a bit more than Johannsson but neither is going to provide what a healthy Henrik Sedin could.
TEAMS FROZEN
The NHL trade freeze came and went at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, and there is but one transaction to report. The Boston Bruins shipped center Carter Camper to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenseman Blake Parlett. Both players are toiling away in the AHL this season, though Camper did get three games with Boston (and scored a goal) back in the 2011-12 season.
Obviously, a deal involving two minor leaguers is not the fireworks that were rumored in the lead up to the deadline. So what happened? There are a few reasons why, at least for now, teams didn’t make a lot of moves.
1. Salary cap space
According to Cap Geek, 16 teams have less than five million in cap space today. When you’re talking about someone like Thomas Vanek ($5.75 million cap hit), Sam Gagner ($4.8 million cap hit) or Ryan Callahan ($4.275 million cap hit), that’s a problem.
In order to take the contract, you also have to send salary back. Certain teams with oodles of space (New York Islanders) might be okay with absorbing a player if the prospect/pick haul was good enough. But if you’re the New York Rangers, and part of the reason you’re dealing the player is for cap relief, that’s not really an option.
2. The Olympic break
But wait, you say, wasn’t the Olympic freeze supposed to motivate teams to make a move? And you’d be half-right. Sellers probably did want to get trades done by the freeze. But if you’re a buyer, what exactly is your incentive?
Vanek, Callahan and others are heading to Sochi to play in the Olympics while the NHL goes on break. There is nothing to gain by trading for them at the moment. The buying team might get one game out of them before they leave. But there is plenty to lose. Suppose a general manager trades a prospect and first round pick for Vanek, who promptly blows out his knee at the Olympics. That G.M. got absolutely nothing for the price paid.
It takes at least two to tango when making moves. If there’s little reason for buying teams to get players right now, and everything to lose, why bother?
This isn’t the trade deadline
Nothing is happening until the end of the day on Feb. 23, but again, that means little since no NHL games will be played until Feb. 25.
If this were the actual trade deadline, obviously, teams would risk their new acquisition gets hurt during the tournament. But it’s not, so they’re not going to. And that means if they’re not paying, the sellers would be foolish to give away their assets at a discounted price.
It would have been interesting if something big had gone down before the trade freeze, but when you add it all up, it’s not surprising nothing huge happened. Things should get a bit more intriguing once the players return from Sochi and the league has until March 5 to make moves.
But it’s not all bad. When the day began, few hockey fans probably had even heard of Carter Camper and Blake Parlett. After 3 p.m., a few more do.
Contributors: Sean Gentille, Ben Valentine
