Pittsburgh Penguins News

Kris Letang said last week he will be ready for the start of Pittsburgh Penguins training camp for the 2015-16 season. Letang missed the final seven games of the regular season and the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs after sustaining a concussion March 28 against the Coyotes. Letang, a finalist for the Masterton Trophy, has been working out since he was cleared by Penguins doctors to return to physical activity June 1. Letang's workouts, to this point, have been confined to off-ice sessions. He says he normally doesn't go on the ice until late July or early August, and he does not plan to alter his routine this offseason. The hurdle of doing on-ice work is not a concern for Letang because he believes he has answered questions about his body and its ability to resume hockey activities with the strenuous work he has done in the gym during the past three weeks. Letang, who has a history of concussions, said he is moving full throttle toward next season and not thinking about the injuries he has sustained throughout his career. Letang had 11 goals and 54 points in 69 games this season. The Penguins were eliminated by the New York Rangers in five games in the Eastern Conference First Round.

"Without a doubt, I am going to be ready for training camp; no doubt about that. I would say since I got fully cleared, I've done everything I wanted. I would say I am at the same level of training that I was a year ago. I have been in the gym going all out; no restrictions and everything went well. When I reach a certain level in the gym, I know I am ready for the ice. If I'm working out, it is because I have no fear at all [about my career]. For sure, it's in the back of my head. But I want to keep going, be a part of the Penguins, and play at the level I can play at."





The Pittsburgh Penguins plan to sign Russian forward Sergei Plotnikov when free agency begins on July 1, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The Penguins also have interest in Viktor Tikhonov, who played for the Coyotes during the 2008-09 season and has spent the past four seasons with St. Petersburg of the KHL, the Tribune-Review said. Plotnikov, 25, has played six seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League, the past three with Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. He has 44 goals and 101 points in 159 games over that span.
Plotnikov was part of Russia's gold medal-winning team at the 2014 IIHF World Championship, and was among the scoring leaders in the tournament with 12 points. Tikhonov, 27, was the 28th pick of the 2008 NHL Draft by the Coyotes. He had eight goals and 16 points in 61 games during the 2008-09 season, but spent most of the next two seasons in the American Hockey League before his stint in the KHL.