CRANBERRY, Pa. -- The Penguins did not bring back Chris Kunitz. They did not sign Michael Grabner, Antoine Roussel, Patrick Maroon or any other high-profile left winger during Sunday's first day of NHL free agency.
They did sign yet another center, though, bringing back Matt Cullen on a one-year $650,000 contract.
It was a bit of a surprising move given the depth at center with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan already on the depth chart. Last week the Penguins re-signed Sheahan, a restricted free agent, to a one-year $2.1 million deal, presumably to be the fourth-line center.
Cullen, of course, held that position in 2015-16 and 2016-17 during the Penguins' consecutive title runs. The Minnesota native signed with the Wild as a free agent last summer to be closer to home but the Penguins remained interested in bringing him back then and again at last year's trade deadline.
"It was a family decision (to go to Minnesota)," Cullen told reporters on a conference call. "It was the right thing at the time. Hockey-wise, it didn't play out the way that I had hoped. When this opportunity came up, it was tough to pass up, a second chance to finish my career in Pittsburgh."
Cullen, who will turn 42 in November, is a 20-year veteran. He has scored 711 points in 1,445 games, third-most among all active players. Last season, he registered 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 79 games, though his 50.4 faceoff win percentage was his lowest in a decade.
The decision to bring back Cullen now was based on "depth, balance" and leadership, according to Jim Rutherford.
"We're comfortable he can still help our team," the GM said. "We lacked some leadership, lost some key guys. We had hoped he'd come back last year but we feel that with the character of Jack Johnson and Matt Cullen going back into the room, we're going to get some of that back."
Rutherford's relationship with Cullen goes back to their days in Carolina. Cullen was part of the Hurricanes' 2006 Cup team and was an integral part of the Penguins' recent Cup teams as a faceoff specialist and on the penalty kill.
Cullen could certainly help on a PK unit that ranked 17th (80.0 percent) and struggled down the stretch.
His addition will certainly present some intriguing options for Mike Sullivan that will have to sort themselves out in the fall. The strength of the team remains down the middle but it's now deep at all 12 forward spots.
Entering Sunday's start of free agency the weak link to the Penguins' roster was on the left side of the bottom six. But Cullen and Sheahan can both play left wing and Rutherford did not rule out that Brassard could play there too.
"I've played quite a bit of wing over the years," Cullen said. "That's something I enjoy is moving around the lineup and filling different spots as the season goes along. I relish that challenge."
Theoretically, Sullivan could ice four lines that could look like this:
Guentzel—Crosby—Sprong
Hagelin—Malkin—Kessel
Sheahan—Brassard—Hornqvist
Aston-Reese—Cullen—Rust
With Sheahan at left wing, Sullivan could allow Zach Aston-Reese to develop in a lesser role while Dominik Simon would likely be the extra forward.
Obviously things can — and probably will — change.
Sunday was only the start of free agency and Rutherford said that more moves could be coming, but he liked the team that he's assembled.
"I'm happy going into opening night with what we have, but I'm not going to just close the door on the trade market," he said. "It's the same as always: If something comes along that makes sense for our team for any reason, we'll talk about it. I do think over the next 2-4 weeks that you'll see more trades because free agency goes very fast. All the top players are gone now. Some teams missed out and I suspect they're going to fill those holes in different ways."
