Letang or EJ

[BigDaddySmooth]

Who would you rather have in the next three years. EJ's slow start will make it hard for him to catch Letang this year.

[vangregs]

Seeing things as they are it is a close call...

Based on potential you would have to go with EJ.
Letang on the other hand is on an awesome team though he gets banged up pretty often and has a knack for missing time due to injury. EJ seems to be following this trend now.
They will both have competition in the long term from Goli and Pietrangelo.
Both play on young up and coming teams though the Pens have better firepower on the PP.
If I had to decide right now I personally think Letang, though if I sleep this one over I could very well wake up thiking EJ.
It is a very close call however.

[PPQB]

Do you mean Letang/Brewer jr?

[Shoeless]

You know I don't have a clue on this - I own EJ in one keeper league and Letang in another and I tested myself after I read your post to see if I would move either one of them for the other. Know what's dumb? I am content to keep each over the other. I actually think it's that close. Letang is howling loud right now but I think we are going to hear more from EJ in the coming weeks.

[NoWayOut]

To me this seems like a win for you either way you decide to go.

On the front end of that three year window you mentioned I would give a slight edge to Letang based on two factors. One being the team around him the other is the fact that he has logged more ice time at the NHL level. That's where I think Letang gets the edge over EJ over the next year or so.

The fact that he's logged almost a full season more worth of games is an invaluable leg up here. He's had more time to adapt to the game on the big stage, which temporarily trumps any edge EJ might have over him in skills. For what it's worth I think that's where EJ's slow start has come from. The competition has had chances to see his game, make adjustments to it, and now it's back on him to make adjustments to his game. As we get closer to the back end of that 3 year window, the scales may start to tip more in EJ's favor.

Yes they both are getting some pressure from behind from Goli and Pietrangelo, but I think they both can hold on to their spots. That said even if they get passed by those two are still no worse than the #2 man in the top D-man pairings for their teams. There's still plenty of value there even if that were to happen. Personally I feel confident EJ and Letang will be their teams #1 option on the blueline going forward.

Like I said I think this is a win/win no matter which way you decide to go.