Pittsburgh Penguins: Another Matt Cullen Return Coming?

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a number of undecided questions looming at this point in the offseason.

One of these questions is the fate of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cullen. The 40-year-old is the only player from our Stanley Cup winning roster who has not signed a contract as of now. At his age, one can be curious if he will even return at all, but you got to think he must be thinking about it.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Benefits of Having Him Back

Matt Cullen is still a capable player. Cullen put up 13 goals and 31 points in 72 games last season. He then put up another two goals and seven assists in 25 playoff games.

Even at 40, his production remains consistent. We could be adding a very capable fourth liner to strengthen our depth. This is a very tempting benefit that the Penguins most likely will want to bolster anyways. On top of that, he is a great veteran presence to have on the team.

The Contract

The Pittsburgh Penguins have $3.28 million left in cap space. Matt Cullen may be an affordable fourth liner, but they have an even bigger hole to fill. That third line centre position is still wide open, and if they want to make a trade to acquire a replacement to Bonino, they’re going to want to keep as much cash free as they can.

Ideally, if the Penguins did want to keep Cullen for this upcoming season, they would want to steal him on another one-year contract.