Cullen will retire or return to Penguins
Matt Cullen doesn’t know if he’s going to play one more year, but he has his list of potential employers whittled to one.
“I can’t imagine playing anywhere but here,” Cullen said Thursday at the Penguins’ locker clean-out at PPG Paints Arena.
“I love it here. This place has been great to me. Going through that experience with the parade [Wednesday], it’s unreal. I can’t imagine a better place to play hockey.”
That should come as good news to Penguins fans. It’s no sure thing Cullen will be back for what would be a 20th NHL season, but if he does return at 41 years old, it won’t be for another team.
Before Cullen decided to re-sign with the Penguins in August 2016, he was kicking around offers from the Penguins and his hometown Minnesota Wild.
While Cullen has made it no secret that he would like to be home more — and that home is in North Dakota and Minnesota — he also is not going to rush the decision.
“I have a pretty good idea of what I’m planning on doing,” Cullen said. “I think I just need to give it a little bit of time at home and get away from the celebrations and everything.
“It’s obviously a decision you only make once. I want to give it some time and make sure.”
Cullen has three sons. They all love hockey. Cullen, however, joked that they won’t have a say in whether he continues his career.
“I’ve heard enough from them,” Cullen said, laughing. “They’re done.”
Maybe that was because his youngest son, Joey, was seen squirting Dad with Gatorade on the ice in Nashville, Tenn., after the Penguins won their most recent Stanley Cup.
“I always tell my teammates, ‘With that one, you’re going to see him on the news someday,’” Cullen said. “I don’t know what for, but you’re going to see him. He’s a little fireball. He stirs the pot at our house. There’s no stopping him.”
There has been no stopping the elder Cullen in Pittsburgh. He has produced 29 goals and 63 points in 154 games the past two regular seasons while averaging 13:54 of ice time and winning 53.7 percent of his faceoffs.
Cullen has played in all 49 of the Penguins’ playoff games the past two seasons, contributing six goals and nine points in those games.
The consistent contributions have been possible because Cullen has been remarkably injury-free — he missed a handful of games this season with a foot injury — and he said at locker clean-out that he has never felt better.
“This is probably as healthy as I’ve felt at the end of a season in quite a long time,” Cullen said. “I’m pretty blessed to feel this way. As you get later in your career, that’s one of the things that usually limits you — how your body feels.
“I got to be honest, I feel great. I really do. My body is healthy. I didn’t have any injuries that I was dealing with throughout the course of the playoffs.”
So, then, the natural question becomes: Why on Earth would you quit playing?
It’s not that simple. Not for Cullen, anyway.
“There’s more to it than just the hockey stuff,” Cullen said. “You want to be able to be an important player to the team. I appreciate the opportunity to be that here.
“Again, it goes beyond only hockey at this point in my life. Again, it’s weighing the balance and figuring out what is the best for the family and the best for me, too.”
If Cullen retired, coaching would be a no-brainer. He also would like to stay around the game.
Beyond that? Well, Cullen hasn’t thought that far ahead. Probably because he’s never had to.
“I’ve never wanted to do anything other than this,” Cullen said. “Since I’ve been 2 years old, this is the only thing I’ve ever dreamed of doing. Again, I haven’t put any thought to it.
“When I’m in the season, I’m pretty well dialed on what I need to do to get ready for the next game. I haven’t really ever stepped back enough to look at that.
“When I’m done, I would likely stay in the game of hockey. It’s the only thing I know. I can’t do anything else. I would likely do something with the game of hockey. I love it. There’s nothing I love more than the game. I’ll figure that out.”
Tip-ins
The Penguins signed one of their top prospects, goaltender Filip Gustavsson, to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Friday. The deal starts when Gustavsson begins playing in North America, and the Penguins said he will spend 2017-18 in his native Sweden. ... Statistician Sam Ventura has been added to the Penguins’ full-time operations staff as the team’s director of hockey research. Ventura, 29, had previously served as a consultant for the team for the past two years.