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Pittsburgh Penguins sign Matt Cullen to one-year, $1M contract
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed veteran forward Matt Cullen to a one-year contract worth $1 million.
The 39-year-old Cullen had a renaissance season with the Penguins in 2015-16 with 16 goals and 32 points while showing versatility to play up and down the lineup. Cullen signed a one-year $800,000 deal with the team last offseason after scoring 17 goals in two seasons with the Nashville Predators.
“Very excited to be going back. I’ve grown to love playing in Pittsburgh and I’m looking forward to another opportunity to go after the Cup with virtually the same team as last year,” Cullen said via text message to Puck Daddy.
In early July, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that $1 million was about all the team could give Cullen.
Assistant GM Bill Guerin said Cullen still has “a lot of gas left in the tank” in that story.
Cullen had mulled retirement after 2014-15 before signing with the Penguins and winning the Stanley Cup.
On the Penguins’ Stanley Cup run, Cullen scored four goals and added two assists while winning 52.2 percent of his faceoffs in 24 games.
Wrote The Hockey Writers:
Plenty of folks feel that Cullen is a necessity heading into the 2016-17 season. He was a major contributor for Pittsburgh and an integral piece of their Stanley Cup run. His versatility served the Penguins well, as he was asked to play multiple roles – both bottom-six and top-six – throughout the season and in the playoffs. He was able to mesh perfectly with head coach Mike Sullivan’s uptempo system despite his age and provided Pittsburgh with value far-and-above his measly $800,000 cap hit.
With the signing, the Penguins now sit at $3,299,999 over the salary cap according to General Fanager. This could eliminate Pittsburgh from the sweepstakes for college forward Jimmy Vesey who hit the open market Tuesday. The Penguins were one of the teams rumored to be interested in the services for the 23-year-old Vesey, who can sign an entry-level contract.
Pensburgh points out that the Penguins can give themselves some cap relief by putting Pascal Dupuis’ $3.75 million on long-term injured reserve.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
