Penguins Looking to Sign Ian Cole Long-Term

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a smart decision around the traded deadline when they sent Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round draft pick to the St. Louis Blues for defender Ian Cole.

We’ve touched on how great of an addition Cole was and it really showed that he was buried behind St. Louis’ depth on the blue line. Cole took on a lot of responsibility for the Penguins down the stretch, but he is a restricted free agent in just a few weeks.

Insider Josh Yohe, of DKonPittsburghSports.com, reported today that the Penguins have begun negotiations with Cole. That’s a great thing for the future of the Pens blueline. From Yohe’s post:

Contract negotiations have officially started between restricted free agent defenseman Ian Cole and the Penguins, a source close to the situation told me Thursday. Cole badly wants to remain in Pittsburgh. He was not happy in St. Louis, particularly playing for Ken Hitchcock, but immediately felt comfortable in Pittsburgh. The Penguins possess a mutual affection for Cole. In fact, following the Penguins’ final game of the regular season in Buffalo, I had a conversation with Mike Johnston. “Man,” Johnston said. “This guy Ian Cole, he’s a good player. I didn’t realize we were getting that good of a player.”There is little reason to believe that a deal won’t get done.

It’s clear that the Penguins need a backup plan on the blue line in case Olli Maatta and Kris Letang can’t shake the injury bug, and Cole helps to compensate. He’s been a durable player throughout his career, but if you look at his stats it would not appear that way. The truth is that Cole, much like the Penguins’ Scott Harrington, Brian Dumoulin and other prospects, often flipped between the AHL and NHL. Cole has had not had many injury problems throughout his career and at 26, he is a player on the rise.

In Cole, the Penguins have another Matt Niskanen; a player that is much better than fans realize and when he is given top-four minutes, his play improves. Niskanen took his career season to the bank as he left Pittsburgh to sign a 7 year, $42 million contract with the Washington Capitals.

The Penguins most certainly will be looking to lock up Cole before he is eligible for unrestricted free agency. They want to avoid another “Niskanen situation,” and there’s proof of this from Dejan Kovacevic. When he was still working for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DK had an exclusive interview with Penguins owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle.

Lemieux and Burkle realized they made a mistake when they did not sign Niskanen to a long-term deal and they paid dearly for it.

Burkle (On Young Players): It’s kind of a different issue, but we’ve talked in the past about a resistance to identifying someone who’s a good young player and locking them up early. that can make a difference. DK: Other than James Neal, I’m struggling to think of an example. Lemieux: (Smiles) Matt Niskanen? DK: Right. Why wait? Lemieux: He’s a good player.

Ownership realized after Niskanen left that they made a mistake when they signed him a two-year, $4,600,000 contract back in 2012.

They will not make the same mistake again. All reports from Pittsburgh have said that they are looking to sign their 26-year old defenseman to a long-term deal, likely around 3-4 years.

Even assuming that Cole gets a pay raise, the Penguins will have plenty of cap space to ensure they do not lose another promising defenseman. For the first time in a while, the Pens will actually have useable cap space as defensemen Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff both will be unrestricted free agents and clear an excess of $9 million off the books.

Cole will be a top-four defenseman for the Penguins next season and the foreseeable future, he’s a much better player than people realize and he’s ready for the challenge of playing 20+ minutes a night.