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Wednesday, 21 September 2011 13:01

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

After toiling in the Penguins' minor league system for parts of four seasons, Mark Letestu finally broke through to the NHL for the first time last season. In 64 games, he produced 27 points while finding work on all four of the team's lines.

Injuries, primarily a knee ailment which required surgery in February, knocked his season off the rails for a little bit, but injuries to teammates allowed him to finish the season as the team's top center on the No. 1 line.

He recently talked about his confidence, health and versatility.

Do you treat this training camp any differently having spent a full season in the NHL finally?

"I think the confidence is there right now. Last year, coming in, not knowing where you stand with the team. The unknown makes you a little unconfident about the situation of where you fall in this year. This year, just the confidence this year of having 60-70 games under my belt in this league knowing I can play here. It calms you down and give you confidence I can play with these guys."

How is your knee?

"The knee’s feeling good. It feels really good. At the end of the year there, obviously coming off surgery, we were still rehabbing quite a bit. But right now, given the long summer, it feels good."

How healthy were you towards the end of last season?

"There was a knee and there was a shoulder for a little while. I think playing at this level for this long took a toll on the body. Obviously with a full year under my belt and those learning experience, hopefully I know how to take care of myself a little better and be ready to play through those injuries and play some better hockey down the stretch for this team."

Does the potential absence of Sidney Crosby weigh on you since you played a lot on the first line in his absence last season?

"That’s kind of how I view myself here as the utility guy here. It seems like they can throw me into any situation to play a lot of different roles. Whenever Sid’s healthy or not healthy, they’re going to find a spot for me where I can help this team. No matter how many minutes it is, I’ve got to be able to help this team and contribute right away."

How important is it to provide that versatility?

"I think it just gives Dan (Byslma) more options. It keeps you in the lineup night to night. Whether its playing 15 to 20 minutes on the first line or six minutes on the fourth line. If he can count on me to contribute in a lot of different roles, I think it’s easy for him to pencil my name in there each night. I think just being able to play a lot of different roles in a lot of different situations hopefully gives him confidence to play me."

(Photos: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Comments (3)

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written by espo33, September 21, 2011 - 02:07 PM

I think a lot of people forgot about his knee injury when they were saying he wasn't producing with Neal and other guys.

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written by Bones, September 21, 2011 - 03:24 PM

Good guy, good player, but was in over his head as a #1 center. Made the most of it though, especially considering that he had to drag Kovalev around the ice. He can be an effective bottom 6 forward.

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written by GenoSid, September 21, 2011 - 04:29 PM

Smart player. Good shot. Nice contract. Works hard.

Not a lot to dislike about Mark Letestu.

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