'Pittsburgh guy' Dupuis happy to stay with Penguins

Pascal Dupuis calls himself a "Pittsburgh guy," and is happy to be for four more seasons.

Dupuis, who could have become an unrestricted free agent, on Tuesday signed a four-year contract worth $15 million to remain with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"I could have gone on the market and get maybe -- I say maybe -- a little more," Dupuis told the team's website Wednesday. "But what I have in Pittsburgh, the relationship with everybody on the staff, with my neighbors, with my kids' friends, with my kids' school, it weighed quite a bit in my decision. And the way the fans have been treating me in the last couple years, it's been unreal. I definitely wanted to be back, and get a taste of that for another four years. You know me. I’m a Pittsburgh guy."

The right wing finished third on the team in scoring in 2012-13, with 38 points (20 goals) in 48 games, and led the NHL with a plus-31 rating. Dupuis scored seven goals and had four assists in 15 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"[General manager Ray Shero] gave me that fourth year, that was a game-breaker for me," Dupuis said. "I'm 34, I'll be 38 years old when this deal is going to be all done. It was, I think, a big step."

In 798 NHL games with Pittsburgh, the Atlanta Thrashers, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, Dupuis has 175 goals and 199 assists. He is has 19 goals (44 points) in 97 playoff games and was a member of the Penguins' 2009 Stanley Cup championship team.

"Everybody’s ecstatic at my house," the native of Laval, Quebec said. "We wanted to be back, and it definitely makes sense with the contract that Ray offered to not have to test the market and feel comfortable that I’m getting my fair value."