It took a while, but the Pittsburgh Penguins have found the defensive help they were looking for at the traded deadline. They waited until late in the day on Monday, but eventually acquired defenseman Ian Cole from the Saint Louis Blues. Cole, a 26-year old native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was the Blues’ first-round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
He’s played in 165 NHL games, all with Saint Louis, scoring nine goals, 21 assists and recording 142 penalty minutes. In 2014-15, he’s had his best offensive season, with four goals and four assists in 52 games.
Cole is considered to be a defensive defenseman and had been skating on the Blues’ third defensive pairing alongside fellow defensive stalwart Barret Jackman. He’s averaged 15:03 of ice time per game, with almost all of it coming at even strength.
Cole is in the final season of a two-year contract with an average annual value of $825,000 and will be a restricted free agent at season’s end.
In exchange for Cole, Saint Louis will acquire Penguins defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and the team’s seventh-round pick in the 2016 NHL draft. Bortuzzo, 25, has struggled to stay in the Penguins lineup this season, with just 37 games under his belt, scoring two goals and four assists.
Bortuzzo, drafted by the Penguins in the third round in 2007, is in the final year of his contract and also will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
This marks the second trade between the Blues and Penguins this season. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford had previously acquired center Maxim Lapierre from Saint Louis in exchange for Marcel Goc in late January.
