PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins locked up another elite young player long term and kept a key player off the market Tuesday, agreeing to terms with defenceman Kris Letang and re-signing forward Pascal Dupuis. A finalist for the Norris Trophy as the NHLs top defenceman, Letang received an eight-year, $58 million contract extension. He would have entered the final season of an existing contract that carried an annual salary-cap hit of $3.5 million. That will now jump to $7.25 beginning in 2014-15. Dupuis potentially couldve been a free agent this week and cashed on his 11-point post-season, but chose to stay to sign a $15 million, four-year deal. Letang, 26, tied for the scoring lead among NHL defencemen last season with 38 points in 35 games. He has 44 goals and 165 assists in 385 career games over six-plus seasons. Letang joins star centres Sidney Crosby (12 years, $104.4 million) and Evgeni Malkin (eight years, $76 million) as players the Penguins have given long-term contracts to in the past 13 months. Under the collective bargaining agreement, Letang cannot sign until Friday. The pact -- the longest allowable by terms of the new CBA -- will run through the 2021-22 season, when the 6-foot, 201-pound native of Montreal will be 35. Beginning in 2014-15, the Penguins will be committing $25.45 million of salary cap space to just three players for every season until 2021-22. For the 2014-15 season alone -- counting contracts given wingers James Neal and Chris Kunitz, defenceman Paul Martin and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury -- the organization already has $44.3 million of cap space accounted for just seven players. The salary cap for the 2013-14 season is projected at $63.4 million, although it is expected to increase dramatically the following year. The swift and skilled Letang is one of the NHLs top offensive defencemen. But at times, the former third-round pick has been criticized for play in the defensive end -- most recently during a stunning sweep of the Penguins by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals. Letang had no points in the series and was a minus-5 over the first two games. During Pittsburghs run to the Stanley Cup in 2009, Letang had 13 points, tying for the post-season lead among defencemen with four goals. Over the past three seasons, Letang leads all NHL defencemen in assists (107). His 0.77 points-per-game average over that span ranks second to Ottawas Erik Karlsson for players at that position. Since the end of the regular season, general manager Ray Shero has said extending Letang was a priority. Before the Penguins were swept by Boston, they defeated the Islanders and Senators in the first and second rounds, respectively. Though he and agent Kent Hughes talked for a while, Shero could have traded Letang during the NHL draft Sunday. A similar scenario played out last summer, when centre Jordan Staal rejected a 10-year contract offer and Shero dealt him to the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade announced from the podium. It never reached that point with Letang. Pittsburgh also didnt have to deal with replacing Dupuis. The 34-year-old winger was third on the team in goals, tied for third with 38 points and led the league with a plus-31 rating, the first Penguins to pull off that feat since Ron Francis did during the 1994-95 season. He is also a key penalty-killer, who blocked 36 shots and is tied for the NHL lead with eight short-handed goals over the past three years. Dupuis, who also helped the Penguins hoist the Cup four years ago, has 175 goals and 374 points in his career with Minnesota, the New York Rangers, Atlanta and Pittsburgh.Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet . 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Kerry, Just watched the shootout in the Coyotes/Leafs game and I have to ask, why was the James van Riemsdyk goal allowed to count? All of the video replays we were shown on TV were inconclusive about whether the puck had entirely crossed the line or not.SEATTLE -- Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley had a message for Jared Goff in the aftermath of a 24-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks: Leave the running to me.Goff, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick, absorbed a hit to the helmet from cornerback Richard Sherman in Thursdays fourth quarter, prompting Goff to exit the game and be placed in the concussion protocol. Goff was talking casually with his teammates postgame and Gurley said he was fine.He seemed OK, but hes probably tough enough to disguise it, Rams interim coach John Fassel said. Hes in the protocol, so well see how it is.With his team trailing by 21 and about nine minutes left in the game, Goff ran 15 yards up the sideline, taking the ball to the Seahawks 2 before being knocked out of bounds on Shermans vicious hit. Goff also took a big hit while running in for a touchdown late in Sundays 42-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.His most recent run was called back because of a hold by right guard Andrew Donnal, giving the Rams their sixth penalty of the game. Goff was promptly taken out, replaced by former starting quarterback Case Keenum.You admire his courage, but you just have to get out of bounds, said Fassel, whose team finished the drive with a turnover on downs. Young quarterbacks, you dont have to fight for the extra yard. And hell learn that. Hes just got to get out of bounds.Sherman explained that the Seahawks were in man-to-man coverage when Goff scrambled out of the pocket.dddddddddddd Sherman ran full speed at Goff, but thought he was going to step out of bounds to avoid the hit. But then Goff went for it all.He looked like he was setting up to take a dive into the end zone for a touchdown, Sherman went on, and we dont give free meals, so he had to feel it.Goff entered the game with a 24.6 Total QBR, the worst in the NFL from Weeks 11 to 14, then went 13-of-25 for 135 yards, taking four sacks and being hurried with almost every snap.Rams cornerback Mike Jordan, filling in for an injured E.J. Gaines, also suffered a concussion while trying to bring down Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls in the third quarter. That prompted Troy Hill to come in and get beat badly off the line of scrimmage by Doug Baldwin for an easy touchdown.Fassel said special-teams contributor Bradley Marquez (knee), defensive back Marqui Christian (ankle) and safety T.J. McDonald (wrist) also suffered injuries, with receiver Kenny Britt getting a few stingers in the quick turnaround.The scariest was Goff, though the 22-year-old never wanted to come out in the first place.The Rams, at least, wont have another game for 10 days.Love the toughness; hes super tough, Fassel said. But it seems like a lot of rookie quarterbacks just need to learn to slide or get out of bounds. ' ' '
