Kris Letang and the Penguins are close on a contract, a source tells me, and it'll likely be a three-year term.
There was no other information shared.
Letang, 35, can become an unrestricted free agent when the NHL's market opens July 13, and management's made clear countless times -- most recently in pointed comments a week ago from Brian Burke -- that it wants to bring back Letang and Evgeni Malkin, their two franchise pieces facing the same setting, with Burke adding that Letang had to come first and soon.
Letang made $7.25 million on his recently expired contract and might've played the smartest, most consistent hockey of his career. Malkin made $9.5 million and, after returning from knee surgery, continued to produce at a point-a-game pace.
The NHL Draft begins Thursday in Montreal.
