Confirmed Signing with Link: [PIT] Penguins re-sign Matt Cullen to 1 year deal

[vippe]

A bit surprising it took this long to sign him, he was a key player for The pens on their cup run. Great deal

 

[Bookman]

He's 38 points behind Daniel Briere for all-time leading scorer from the class of 96. Probably won't catch him ... this year.

 

[FlamesFan18]

Great signing

 

[DesertPenguin]

Matt Cullen is one of the unsung heroes of the Pens cup win. He contributed plenty as an individual, but he was also instrumental in bringing Sheary, Rust, Kuhnhackl along. They call him "Dad". Im not kidding. Maybe we win the cup without Cullen, but theres no way we win it without Cullen, Sheary, Rust and Kuhnhackl playing at the level they did.

 

[Zen Arcade]

Rutherford alluded to them still being in on Vesey when he was talking to the media about signing Cullen, so I don't think this has any bearing on that situation.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

We could still get Vesey.

But happy we got him.

Crosby malkin Bonino Cullen
That is the best centre group AIEC (and it's even close)
Anyways he brings a lot to the table for 1 million.

Give him a game of rest once a month. I don't see him scoring as many though

 

[NotYou]

i dont think he was gonna sign anywhere else imo

Russo has been reporting he was willing to sign with MN. I'm disapointed that it didn't happen. Again. Hope he has another good year for pit though

 

[spintheblackcircle]

great professional.

amazing stat.....he is the 2nd highest scoring player of his draft year. great career.

 

[Marlowe Syn]

Damn, wanted the Wild to sign him.

Agreed. I don't know what they were waiting on. Glad he got a contract though. Not like there was really question of him getting a contract.

 

[ForSpareParts*]

Nice move.

 

[Riptide]

So no Vesey then?

They still have a little cap space. Would mean that if they did somehow land him (doubt it) that he'd be battling Wilson for that final spot.

 

[SEALBound]

Love this. We really needed a defensive minded 4th line center that can wreck havoc in the faceoff circle. Vital to our playoffs this past run. Very happy to have him back.

 

[Peanut]

Such a good signing really jealous of this guy. He had a hell of a playoffs imo.

 

[jetsforever]

Nice signing, I assumed he would just retire
Hopefully he'll have a good year

 

[barbosa]

The Wild beat writer has been reporting since July 1st that Cullen has been willing to come home to Minnesota if the Wild wanted him, Fletcher just never offered the contract for whatever reason. The Wild did definitely know about Cullen's interest though as it had become a running joke between the beat writer (Michael Russo) and Wild owner Craig Leipold asking when Cullen would sign.

So, in your analogy, that's like a Victoria's Secret model waiting for you to propose to her, but you sat around and let her get engaged to someone else. We have the perfect opening for Cullen in our bottom six and we'll probably just fill it with a rookie or with a guy like Ryan Carter or Chris Porter now.

ouch. shoulda stepped up Jaded DAMN!

 

[rynryn]

don't know how $1m for 1 year for Matt Cullen could be a poor signing for anyone.

 

[57special]

What is Fletcher thinking? Only 1M?

Oh right, we need " flexibility" for that big trade he's going to make...any minute now...still waiting...

I would rather he signed Cullen for one year at 1 M than Staal for 3/9M

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

If Sundqvist get's sent down (which I hope), we should have something close to $1.1M in cap space I think. So, enough for Vesey.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

What is Fletcher thinking? Only 1M?

Oh right, we need " flexibility" for that big trade he's going to make...any minute now...still waiting...

I would rather he signed Cullen for one year at 1 M than Staal for 3/9M

I think it's fair to say that just because Cullen signed with Pittsburgh for 1 mil per doesn't mean he'd sign anywhere for that much.

I imagine he tested the UFA waters mainly to see if any other team would offer him a substantial enough premium to make moving on worthwhile. All other things being equal, why would he go anywhere else?

 

[clefty]

The Wild beat writer has been reporting since July 1st that Cullen has been willing to come home to Minnesota if the Wild wanted him, Fletcher just never offered the contract for whatever reason. The Wild did definitely know about Cullen's interest though as it had become a running joke between the beat writer (Michael Russo) and Wild owner Craig Leipold asking when Cullen would sign.

So, in your analogy, that's like a Victoria's Secret model waiting for you to propose to her, but you sat around and let her get engaged to someone else. We have the perfect opening for Cullen in our bottom six and we'll probably just fill it with a rookie or with a guy like Ryan Carter or Chris Porter now.

Cullen said today that Pittsburgh was his preference all along and the way Rutherford spoke about it, he made it sound like his re-signing was fait accompli for some time. His boys seemed to be a strong factor as well, they became Penguin crazy last summer - they even got their schooling done with a private tutor inside the Penguins practice facility - and Cullen said when he told them they were going back, they ran inside their rooms and got all their Penguins gear on.

I don't know that it would have mattered much.

 

[izzy]

Gotta love it

 

[Zirakzigil]

Very happy to have him back. He was a very important piece on the Pens last year.

 

[mgd525]

This is fantastic. Cullen was so damn important to the Pens. He takes so many defensive draws and still has very good wheels. 1 million for him is a fantastic deal. He's well worth 2.5m imo. Cullen is a hell of a team player. I guess he didn't have so much interest in going to the Wild after all. Strangely at this point Cullen is a better player than Eric Staal. Wow, I never thought I would say those words.

 

[Blue Line Turnover]

Damn, how old is this dude? I'd swear that he was old back when I was a young lad LOLz

 

[mgd525]

Damn, how old is this dude? I'd swear that he was old back when I was a young lad LOLz

He turns 40 in Nov. The dude is like a fine wine, he gets better with age. This season at 39 he played at pretty much a great 3c level.