Matt Cullen focuses on Cup, not contract
Penguins center takes trophy to Minnesota, wants to play one more season
NHL.com @NHL
Matt Cullen spent his first day with the Stanley Cup this summer reiterating that he wants to play a final season in the NHL, even if it's not a return to the champion Pittsburgh Penguins.
"I want to play one more season. It's just a matter of figuring out that destination," Cullen told 970 WDAY radio in Fargo, N.D. "We'll see. It's a work in progress."
Cullen had the Cup in Detroit Lakes, Minn., on Friday and will take it to Moorhead, Minn., on Saturday. He also won the Cup in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes.
"It's fun to see how excited everybody gets around it," Cullen said. "There's just something special about it. We win it, we work really hard to win it ... It's really rewarding and it makes it a lot more special for all of us players, but especially me being able to bring it home and seeing how much people respect it and how much it means to everybody.
"You see that trophy, and it just kind of takes your breath away when you see it, so it's cool. It's fun to bring it home and it's really fun to see people's reactions and how much it means to everybody."
Cullen had 16 goals and 16 assists in 82 regular-season games, then four goals and two assists in the Penguins' 24 playoff games. The center, who turns 40 on Nov. 2, said he expects negotiations to resume after the weekend and fully intends to sign a one-year contract.
"It's been kind of an interesting process," Cullen said. "We're kind of working with Pittsburgh for quite a while and all along the intent was to get back to Pittsburgh. ... It's kind of a funny deal how that side of the game works.
"So just kind of taking a little break from it and trying to enjoy the weekend. When the weekend is over, I think within the next couple of weeks I would suspect we'll be able to figure something out, whether it's with Pittsburgh or somewhere else."