Cost Of An Agitator: Penguins Lock Up Matt Cooke for 3 Years

If Matt Cooke is playing for your team, you absolutely love him and everything he brings to the table: the occasional goal, physical play ... a guy other teams hate to play against. And when he's not on your team, you loathe his entire NHL existence. The 31-year-old winger was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but according to multiple media outlets, has agreed to a three-year contract with the Penguins.

Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette reports that the deal carries an annual cap hit of $1.8 million, which is about a $600,000 increase from his previous deal.

Cooke, part of Pittsburgh's third line along with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy, is coming off a season where he matched his career-high with 15 goals, and was one of the Penguins better players in the playoffs, scoring four goals to go with two assists in 13 games. Along with the offense and his agitating style of play (he hates being called an agitator, but, there's no way around it: that's what he is, and he's very good at it) Cooke also made headlines this season for his hit on Boston's Marc Savard, which sent the headshot debate into overdrive, and for being on the receiving end of a one-punch knockout courtesy of Atlanta's Evander Kane.

Here's a look at how his new deal -- and his production -- compares to some of the NHL's other top pests and agitators.

Top Agitators (Past Three Seasons)
Player	Pts/Game	Penalty Min/Season	Cap Hit
Sean Avery	.514	141.6	$3.8*
Steve Ott	.495	145	$2.9
Chris Neil	.357	173.3	$2.1
Matt Cooke	.388	99.3	$1.8
Jarkko Ruutu	.272	134.3	$1.3
Jordin Tootoo	.268	88	$1.2
Steve Downie	.460	115.3	RFA
Darcy Tucker	.355	71.3	UFA

(*the contract Avery signed with Dallas had an annual cap hit of $3.8 million, but since the Rangers claimed him on re-entry waivers, they're only responsible for half of his salary. Salary figures from NHLnumbers.com)

Cooke's new deal puts him right in the middle: not quite on the same level as guys like Avery and Ott, and a little bit above Tootoo and Ruutu. Which seems about right. Avery and Ott are more than capable of playing a top-six role, and while Cooke's offense isn't quite on that level, he does provides a bit more than Tootoo and Ruutu. Downie should be in line to get a nice increase in his contract after his 22-goal, 24-assist season in Tampa Bay.

With Cooke signed, along with defenseman Ben Lovejoy who inked a three-year extension on Monday (cap hit: $525,000), the Penguins have approximately $47 million committed to 17 players for this upcoming season, while Sergei Gonchar, Bill Guerin, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Mark Eaton, Jordan Leopold and Jay McKee are all set to become unrestricted free agents. Throughout the offseason, general manager Ray Shero has made it known that his top two priorities were Cooke and Gonchar. However, TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Monday that it looks as if Gonchar is set to hit the open market. It also appears as if the team has little interest in bringing back Ponikarovsky, Fedotenko or McKee.