Mark Letestu

Early career

Letestu played three seasons of junior hockey with the Bonnyville Pontiacs of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, before playing one season at Western Michigan of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. During the 2005–06 season with the Pontiacs, Letestu led the AJHL in scoring with 105 points (50 goals, 55 assist) in 58 games and was named the league's most valuable player.^[2] While at Western Michigan during the 2006–07 season, Letestu was sixth in goals, fourteenth in points, and first in the NCAA with five short handed goals.^[2]

Pittsburgh Penguins

After playing at Western Michigan, Letestu was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 22, 2007. He appeared in three regular and two post-season games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, when he joined the team at the end of the 2006–07 season. In 2007–08 he appeared in 52 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and six games with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. He then spent the entire 2008–09 season in the AHL. The Penguins re-signed Letestu to a two-year contract in March 2009.^[2]

Letestu's first NHL goal

On November 14, 2009, Letestu made his NHL debut with the Penguins against the Boston Bruins. He made another appearance with the Penguins before being returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Letestu was called up again on December 5 and played that night against the Chicago Blackhawks. He played 13 minutes, 52 seconds, and won a faceoff against John Madden that set up a tying goal by Jordan Staal with 31 seconds remaining.^[3]

On February 1, 2010, Letestu scored his first NHL goal against Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres, 47 seconds into the first period. The goal was assisted by Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang.^[4] Letestu was one of seven Wilkes-Barre/Scranton players recalled by Pittsburgh after the AHL Penguins were eliminated in the first round of the 2010 Calder Cup playoffs.^[5] He appeared in his first NHL playoff game in the Penguins second round series against the Montreal Canadiens on May 4, when he replaced the injured Staal as the third-line center between Kennedy and Matt Cooke.^[6] In Game 5 on May 8, Letestu recorded his first NHL playoff point with an assist on a second period goal by Sergei Gonchar.^[7]

Letestu with the Blue Jackets in 2012

Letestu began the 2010–11 season with the Penguins after delivering a very strong training camp and preseason. He finished preseason play with a goal and five assists in five games. "I worked hard this summer...the praise is nice but it's only as good as your last game. I just need to keep playing the way I have been and hopefully force somebody to keep me here," said Letestu after scoring against the Chicago Blackhawks at the new Consol Energy Center.^[8] He began the 2010–11 NHL regular season equally as strong, scoring game-winning goals in two of his first three games, being named one of the Stars of the Game against Montreal and the New Jersey Devils. Letestu was then named No. 1 star against the Ottawa Senators on October 18, 2010 after scoring a power-play goal and assisting on Evgeni Malkin's goal by winning a faceoff in the Ottawa zone. The performance gave him seven points in his first seven games. "He has really made an impact for us," said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.^[9]

However, Letestu's production dipped into November, as he went 22 consecutive games without scoring a goal. On December 8, 2010, Letestu finally broke the scoring drought with the first multi-goal game of his NHL career, scoring twice against the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[10] Letestu signed a two-year contract extension with the Penguins on January 18, 2011 worth an average annual value of $625,000 for the term of the deal. At the time, he was 10th among all NHL rookies in scoring (19 points) and had scored three game-winning goals.^[11]

Columbus Blue Jackets

On November 8, 2011, Letestu was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a fourth-round pick.^[12] Letestu finished the season with 25 points in 62 games split between both clubs. During the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, Letestu was an assistant captain for the Blue Jackets.

Edmonton Oilers

After three and half seasons with the Blue Jackets, Letestu left the club as a free agent and on July 1, 2015, and signed a three-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers.^[13] During the 2016-17 season, Letestu scored a career-high 16 goals to go along with a career-high 35 points.

Return to Columbus

On February 25, 2018, Letestu was traded by the Oilers to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Pontus Aberg.^[14] Later that day, Letestu was flipped back to the Blue Jackets in exchange for a 2018 fourth-round pick.^[15] Letestu and the Blue Jackets reached the 2018 playoffs, but were ousted in the first round by the Washington Capitals.^[16] Letestu went scoreless in six games.

On August 14, 2018, Letestu agreed to attend the Florida Panthers' training camp on a professional tryout.^[17] However, Letestu was released from his try out on September 24.^[18]

On September 27, Letestu returned to the Blue Jackets, signing a one-year, two-way contract. He was immediately placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.^[19]