Drafted 18th overall by the St. Louis Blues back in 2007, defenseman Ian Cole played in only 113 games at the NHL level - with a career-high 46 appearances in 2013-14 - bouncing up and down from the AHL's Peoria Rivermen since graduating from Notre Dame in 2010.

After a decidedly disappointing end to the season, coach Ken Hitchcock declared changes were imminent on the blue line. The club went out and dealt Roman Polak to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Carl Gunnarsson, and, as a result, may have opened a spot for a 6-foot-1, 219 pound physical defenseman with a heavy shot like Ian Cole.

According to Hitchcock, the 25-year-old will have every opportunity to assert himself as a lineup regular this season.

“This is a real opportunity for Ian,” Hitchcock told the Post-Dispatch. “He’s paid his dues. He spent time in the minors. He’s spent time as the seventh defenseman. He’s matured as a person and as a player. It’s his time. There’s an open spot, a regular shift. There’s everything there waiting for him, just step up and grab it.”

The club's Capgeek page tells us there are eight defensemen under contract heading into training camp, with Cole coming in seventh in terms of expected salary ($825,000). He is, however, in the final year of a two-year deal, and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.

Hitchcock, then, stands to decide whether Cole will get a fair shot to show off his game leading into his next contract.

A guy like Ian has an element to his game that’s necessary for us. He’s put in all of this work, not just ‘work’ but real development work ... I've had three or four guys like this with other teams. And sometimes it takes time to sort out what their best role is and how their best game evaluates. We want him up on the play. We want him joining the rush. We want his physicality. And we’ll live with some of the mistakes that he might make defensively, because when he’s up on the play and he’s carrying the puck, he has the ability to make pretty good decisions.

For his part, Cole knows he needs to go to camp and help make his coach's decision as easy as can be: "I think there is a real opportunity this time," he said, "and I’m going to do my best to grab it."

Cole scored three goals and added eight assists with a plus-15 rating in 15 minutes of ice time per game last season.