Ian Cole backtracks with the puck in a game last month in Washington. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
News: The Penguins have completed a trade of bottom-pair defensemen, sending Robert Bortuzzo and a 2016 seventh-round draft pick to the Blues for Ian Cole.
Cole, 26, is a 6-1, 219-pound left-handed shot who had four goals, five assists and a plus-16 rating in 54 games for St. Louis. The games played represent a career high, as Cole never topped 46 in his first four NHL seasons, something of a disappointment for a first-round pick in 2007.
Views: Initial thought is that these are two teams exchanging seventh defensemen who better suit their needs, and little more. Cole is more mobile, Bortuzzo more physical, and perhaps Cole fits better in the role of being able to step in and replace one of the Penguins’ top defensemen in the event of injury.
Given how frequently opponents target Kris Letang, this might prove to be a good idea. Other defensemen would slide up to replace Letang, obviously, but Cole could slide up in turn.
On the other hand, man, this is a team that can occasionally benefit from all the sandpaper a guy like Bortuzzo brings. Not all the time, mind you. But every playoff series has that pivoting point where a coach looks for that edge, that spark. And I’ve long seen Bortuzzo as that guy who could go right from the press box to a Game 4 cauldron, if you will. He could be missed in that regard, as well as being a generally popular teammate and really good guy.
Going back to Cole, here’s a highlight reel from the past year.
Jim Rutherford is scheduled to meet with reporters at 3:15 p.m.
March 2, 2015
News/views: Penguins get Cole for Bortuzzo
by Dejan Kovacevic • News/views • Penguins
Ian Cole backtracks with the puck in a game last month in Washington. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
News: The Penguins have completed a trade of bottom-pair defensemen, sending Robert Bortuzzo and a 2016 seventh-round draft pick to the Blues for Ian Cole.
Cole, 26, is a 6-1, 219-pound left-handed shot who had four goals, five assists and a plus-16 rating in 54 games for St. Louis. The games played represent a career high, as Cole never topped 46 in his first four NHL seasons, something of a disappointment for a first-round pick in 2007.
Views: Initial thought is that these are two teams exchanging seventh defensemen who better suit their needs, and little more. Cole is more mobile, Bortuzzo more physical, and perhaps Cole fits better in the role of being able to step in and replace one of the Penguins’ top defensemen in the event of injury.
Given how frequently opponents target Kris Letang, this might prove to be a good idea. Other defensemen would slide up to replace Letang, obviously, but Cole could slide up in turn.
On the other hand, man, this is a team that can occasionally benefit from all the sandpaper a guy like Bortuzzo brings. Not all the time, mind you. But every playoff series has that pivoting point where a coach looks for that edge, that spark. And I’ve long seen Bortuzzo as that guy who could go right from the press box to a Game 4 cauldron, if you will. He could be missed in that regard, as well as being a generally popular teammate and really good guy.
Going back to Cole, here’s a highlight reel from the past year.
Jim Rutherford is scheduled to meet with reporters at 3:15 p.m.