Mar 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (58) moves the puck as Winnipeg Jets left wing Cole Koepke (45) chases during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Following the 2025-26 season, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas termed Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang physically “in a different bucket” than most other players careening toward 40-years old.
Indeed, not many players get to play at 39 or 40 years old, especially defensemen. Over the last five seasons, only three defensemen (Brent Burns, Ryan Suter, and Mark Giordano) have played in their 39-year-old season. In the last 10 years, there have been only five, including those three.
The others who survived were Andrei Markov, for whom it was his last season, and the ageless Zdeno Chara, who played until 45. While there isn’t a large pool of examples, for those who have made it that far, there are very consistent themes of production and ice time, or rather, declining production and ice time. For Suter, the long-time Minnesota Wild D-man on the 12-year contract so monstrous that the NHL changed the rules, his production was a perfect step-by-step decline over his 37 to 40 seasons, when he retired.
Suter’s drop began in his 36 season when he stumbled to just 19 points in the shortened 56-game COVID season. After posting at least 40 points in nine of his previous 10 seasons, Suter then dropped to 32, then 24, 17, and 15 points. In his 37-year-old season, he played an average of 23:39 ice time, but it dropped in the next couple of seasons to below 19 minutes (before rising in one season with the St. Louis Blues to 19:28).
That’s a 64% drop in points and a 20% drop in minutes. Somewhat surprisingly, Markov didn’t have much of a drop in points with the Montreal Canadiens, but also had a 14% drop in ice time before heading to the KHL. Giordano played his last three seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and is an interesting study because his drops were sudden for then Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas.
After posting at least 38 points in seven of eight seasons, in his 38 season, he dropped to 24 points and then just nine points. That’s a roughly 75% drop, and over his last three seasons his ice time fell 22.6% from 21:29 down to 16:37 before he called it a day. Even Burns, who is still chugging along at age 41, has experienced a 42% drop in points over the last three seasons, from 61 points in 2022-23 to 35 last season with the Colorado Avalanche.
Burns ‘ ice time has also fallen from 23:13 to 18:52, an 18.74% drop. As for the Penguins’ Letang, who is 39, the statistical decline is in full force. A career of serious injuries and illness has taken a toll.
After 51 points in 2023-24 in 24:41 per game, Letang fell to just 31 points in 21:41 of ice time last season. So, his production has already fallen by 40%. Of course, the Penguins blue line is still overloaded with righties, and Letang may get a few breathers to mitigate the slide this season.
Projecting forward, unless Letang bucks the consistent trends, his decline should settle around 21 points (a 60% drop from ’23-24), and if trends hold and the Penguins have suitable talent capable of filling minutes, his ice time could fall further to under 20 minutes.