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Cullen signs with Wild, opting against retirement (and Penguins)

Pittsburgh Penguins Victory Parade And Rally

PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 14: Matt Cullen #7 of the Pittsburgh Penguins rides in the Victory Parade and Rally on June 14, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)

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Matt Cullen is going home, but that doesn’t mean that he’s retiring from hockey.

Instead, the Minnesota native decided to sign a one-year, $1 million deal with the Minnesota Wild. It’s unclear why, precisely, Cullen didn’t ink a deal to try to “threepeat” with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Wild note that his deal also includes $700K in potential performance bonuses.

This will be the 40-year-old’s second run with the Wild. His first run came from 2010-11 through 2012-13, where he appeared in 193 regular-season games and five postseason contests for Minnesota.

Cullen managed back-to-back 30+ point seasons with the Penguins while providing useful all-around play as a veteran center. If he can maintain a reasonably high level of play, this gives the Wild quite the solid group down the middle, even with Martin Hanzal gone.