Mike Rupp doesn't just own a Stanley Cup ring. He has a Cup-winning goal.

He isn't only a guy who's willing to fight. He takes boxing lessons so he can do it better.

And he isn't just a die-hard Cleveland Browns fans.

He's a self-described, uh, "casual Steelers fan."

OK, Rupp -- a rugged forward who accepted a two-year contract with the Penguins yesterday -- acknowledged that "I don't know if such a thing is possible," but explained that because his wife grew up about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh, "I've kind of been converted."

Translation: When the Steelers play Cleveland, "I have to root for the Browns," but that doesn't prevent Rupp from backing the Steelers the rest of the time because "you want a team to cheer for where there's something to cheer about."

Rupp, who spent the past three seasons with the New Jersey Devils, plays a physical game that should earn him some applause at Mellon Arena this winter.

He is 6 feet 5, 230 pounds and isn't shy about dropping his gloves when the situation calls for it. He had 136 penalty minutes in 72 games last season, to go with three goals and six assists.

"Obviously, he's very capable in that role," Penguins general manager Ray Shero said. "He adds to our team toughness."

Rupp is serious enough about that facet of his game that he has made boxing lessons part of his offseason regimen for the second summer in a row.

"I'm a player who plays a very physical game and I've started fighting more in the last few years," he said. "I just wanted some pointers in that area, and it's helped me."

Although Rupp's acquisition might seem to make enforcer Eric Godard expandable, Shero was adamant that he does not share that perspective. He added that he has not looked into the possibility of trading Godard and has no plans to do so.

It's easy to understand why management might consider such a move, however, because the Penguins are starting to run out of salary-cap space.

The addition of Rupp -- whose contract will pay him $800,000 next season and $850,000 in 2010-11 -- means they have $52,204,300 worth of cap space committed to 18 players for the 2009-10 season, when the cap ceiling will be $56.8 million.

The Penguins still would like to bump up their obligations -- although not by too much -- by re-signing their two most prominent free agents, defenseman Rob Scuderi and winger Ruslan Fedotenko.

Shero and his staff worked late into last night, and finding a way to hold on to Scuderi and Fedotenko appeared to be at the top of their to-do list.

Scuderi -- whose defense partner, Hal Gill, accepted a two-year, $4.5 million offer from Montreal -- promised the Penguins he would take the most attractive offer he received back to them so they could counter it, and agent Steve Bartlett confirmed that the Penguins remained on his client's radar.

"We continue to have a dialogue with Pittsburgh," he said.

Scuderi said last night that he didn't anticipate making a decision before today.

Fedotenko, like Scuderi, appears to have attracted considerable interest from around the league but apparently hadn't settled on an offer late last night.

Although it's unlikely that Rupp had as many options as Scuderi or Fedotenko, he seemed more than happy with the opportunity the Penguins gave him.

"Obviously, it's an organization that's on top of the hockey world right now," he said. "I believe, as well as most people, that this team is exciting and will be right there, competing for the Stanley Cup, every year."

The Devils did that for much of Rupp's tenure, and he scored the deciding goal when New Jersey defeated Anaheim in the 2003 final, but he had a fairly narrow job description in recent years.

"With the way that team was built, I kind of had a job and a role on that team, but never was able to do everything I could bring," Rupp said. "When I talked to [the Penguins], one of the first things they said was that they thought that I could be used in a lot of different ways. That's obviously big."

NOTES -- The Penguins signed former Boston University defenseman Brian Strait to a three-year entry-level contract. ... Goalie Mathieu Garon, who was Marc-Andre Fleury's backup after being acquired from Edmonton in January, signed a two-year deal worth an average of $1.2 million with Columbus.