from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

He has worked hard at his conditioning and he has challenged himself to become a go-to guy on the ice and in the dressing room.

"I think it's not only putting up points and being an offensive guy," explained Letang, who suffered a stroke during the 2013-14 season and missed 10 weeks before returning to action.

"I think what I want is to make sure the coach behind me is never going to have a question mark in his head [about playing me in any situation]. ... I want to be the guy that he knows that I'm going to do the job and I'm going to do it right."

With Martin signing as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks and Ehrhoff now in Los Angeles, the Pens' blue line is in a state of flux. Youngsters Brian Dumoulin and Derrick Pouliot look to be slotting in somewhere in the top six. There's veteran Rob Scuderi, Adam Clendening and 41-year-old Sergei Gonchar, who's on a tryout.

General manager Jim Rutherford acknowledged they will have to keep an eye on the blue line and the implication is that he might look to add depth via the trade market. But it's better, obviously, if he doesn't have to. And how this plays out will be determined in large part by how Letang and Maatta shoulder the burden of leadership.

As for Letang, Rutherford shook his head when asked if anyone outside of the Pens' room knows how good Letang was for the Pens last season.

"Nobody knows," Rutherford said.

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