I’ll say this much: Because of the emergence of Justin Schultz as an all-star-caliber defenseman, the Penguins have a better chance to withstand the loss of Kris Letang than they would have last season. And they’ll still beat Columbus.
But let’s not kid ourselves. Their shot to repeat as Stanley Cup champions took a massive body blow Wednesday when the club announced that Letang will have surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck. The recovery period is 4-6 months.
The news came just a week after coach Mike Sullivan answered with an emphatic “Yes” when I asked if he was confident Letang would be available to start the playoffs.