On Wednesday, a beloved Penguin decided to hang up the skates. Matt Cullen officially announced his retirement from the NHL after 21 seasons. It was rumored that 2018-19 would be his final season before it started, but now he has confirmed it.
Cullen, 42, was drafted 35th overall in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He spent six seasons with MDA, playing in 427 games and scoring 200 points. He was then traded at the deadline to the Florida Panthers in 2003, where he would spend two seasons. Then, on August 5, 2004, he signed as a free agent with the Carolina Hurricanes prior to the 2004-05 lockout occurred. During the lockout, he signed a contract with Cortina which plays in both the AlpsHL and Italian Hockey League Serie A, playing in 36 games and recording 61 points. The following season, he returned to Carolina where he played in 78 games, accumulating 49 points. During the summer of 2006, he signed a four year deal with the New York Rangers. After only 80 games with them, he was traded back to Carolina where he spent three more seasons. He helped Carolina win the cup in 2006, playing in all 25 playoff games and adding 18 points. He was traded again in 2010, this time to Ottawa at the deadline. He only played in 21 games for them and only had 8 points. He signed with Minnesota that summer where he spent three seasons before signing with Nashville as a free agent. After two seasons in Nashville, he left for Pittsburgh in the 2016 offseason. He would go on to be a key depth guy in the back to back Stanley Cups runs for the Penguins. In the summer of 2017, he signed with Minnesota again for his 20th season. He played in 79 games that year, scoring 22 points, but he wasn’t done. On July 1, 2018, he came back to Pittsburgh for his 21st season and hinted at it being his final season when he signed. He played in 71 games for the team, produced20 points. Overall, Cullen played in 1,516 career NHL games, tallying 266 goals and adding 465 assists with eight different teams.
Cullen was a great depth player for the Penguins. He was an incredible role model for young players and he was overall amazing off the ice. I personally met him once before game five of the 2016 ECF, and he was a kind, humble man. Cully will be missed on and off the ice and I’m glad I got a chance to meet him. Thank you, Cully, for everything you did and congrats on the retirement and I hope you enjoy retirement. Who knows maybe we will see his jersey in PPG Paints arena rafters someday.
UPDATE – August 1st, 2019
Today, GM Jim Rutherford announced that the 42-year-old veteran Matt Cullen has joined the Penguins hockey operations staff in a player development role. In this role, he will work alongside Rutherford, as well as head coach Mike Sullivan and the rest of the coaching staff to help develop players. “He is a cerebral player with great leadership skills,” said Sullivan. “He is a natural coach who will offer great insight to our coaching staff and to our players. We look forward to adding him to the staff” (Penguins Media Staff, NHL.com). Personally, I’m happy to see him stay within the Penguins organization, as he helped the Penguins win two Stanley Cups as a player. Hopefully, he can help them win more as a member of the front office.
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