Confirmed with Link: Bortuzzo and a 7th (2016) for Ian Cole (Blues retain $225k salary)

[handzus]

As a Blues fan, I will say that yes, some of our issues with Cole have been slow development, but it's been so much more. The guy has the tools to be really good. I remember when he was drafted, they said he was one of the "strongest" prospects in the draft, and that's not to say he was tough or good on his skates, just strong. Well, that's nice, but hockey games aren't won with bench presses and squats!

Anyway, he did sort of blossom, then he unblossomed, etc etc.. he just seemed like he could never put together a string of solid games. He looks like a legitimate defender out there at times, then next thing you know he looks like he forgot how to play in his own end. Maybe he still has some jitters from being in the big leagues, or maybe it's Hitch has him on edge because he's not sure what Hitch wants...I dunno.

Honestly, I wish him the best, but I have a feeling his career is probably going to be nothing but unrealized potential due to lack of consistency.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Anyone know when Cole is UFA?

 

[shureshot66]

Anyone know when Cole is UFA?

Next contract. This will be the last offseason that he's still RFA.

 

[StroShow]

Martin-Letang
Ehrhoff-Cole
Scuderi-Lovejoy

I know fans are pissed about the Despres and Lovejoy swap , Living in Vancouver I've gotten to see lovejoy a lot these last couple of years and he's really blossomed since his time in pittsburgh. With the Pens excess in young defencemen it kind of made sense too add a vet. Despres was really good in the first couple of months in the season but he's been pretty bad these last couple of weeks. I see him as a great 3rd pairing guy down the road who can step in to the top 4 if needed . He will be on the Ducks 3rd pairing for now fighting for playing time with Clayton Stoner and Korbinian Holzer to stay there. We're just fans here so we don't really know what else is going on , JR has made some excellent trades and I trust him in building a championship team.

 

[BobCole]

Martin-Letang
Ehrhoff-Cole
Scuderi-Lovejoy

I know fans are pissed about the Despres and Lovejoy swap , Living in Vancouver I've gotten to see lovejoy a lot these last couple of years and he's really blossomed since his time in pittsburgh. With the Pens excess in young defencemen it kind of made sense too add a vet. Despres was really good in the first couple of months in the season but he's been pretty bad these last couple of weeks. I see him as a great 3rd pairing guy down the road who can step in to the top 4 if needed . He will be on the Ducks 3rd pairing for now fighting for playing time with Clayton Stoner and Korbinian Holzer to stay there. We're just fans here so we don't really know what else is going on , JR has made some excellent trades and I trust him in building a championship team.

Putting aside how we feel about Lovejoy, reading this type of rationalization of giving up on Despres absolutely infuriates me. A 23 year old defenseman who shows a ton of upside (even his detractors would concede this) has looked "bad" for a few weeks, so to hell with him? Maatta looked like ass down the stretch last year. Should we sell him off for a 31 year old middle pairing dman one year from UFA too?

I'm not on the train that says this trade is tantamount to a terminable offense, but I do hate hate hate it.

 

[StroShow]

Putting aside how we feel about Lovejoy, reading this type of rationalization of giving up on Despres absolutely infuriates me. A 23 year old defenseman who shows a ton of upside (even his detractors would concede this) has looked "bad" for a few weeks, so to hell with him? Maatta looked like ass down the stretch last year. Should we sell him off for a 31 year old middle pairing dman one year from UFA too?

I'm not on the train that says this trade is tantamount to a terminable offense, but I do hate hate hate it.

Not saying it's a good trade but don't want to ask for JR's head after one questionable trade after all the good one's he's pulled off.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Next contract. This will be the last offseason that he's still RFA.

Thanks. Good that we have a little time to evaluate him.

 

[Michael8771*]

I do like this deal quite a bit. It's not a huge swing, well, not in the scheme of things, but I like Coles upside much more. Kind of the opposite of the Despres deal.

 

[JTG]

I like Ian Cole, and have since his draft year. I do believe he was a defenseman in particular that needed a change of scenery. He's 26, he's experienced, and judging from the quotes he made, he knows what his role is. He is at that age where a young defenseman takes strides in their game, and can blossom into a legitimate top 4 guy.

If Cole can turn into that physical shutdown defenseman we desperately need, and plays better than Despres (I don't think he will surpass how Despres plays - they will at most be equal), trading Bortuzzo and a 7th for Lovejoy isn't that bad.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I like Ian Cole, and have since his draft year. I do believe he was a defenseman in particular that needed a change of scenery. He's 26, he's experienced, and judging from the quotes he made, he knows what his role is. He is at that age where a young defenseman takes strides in their game, and can blossom into a legitimate top 4 guy.

If Cole can turn into that physical shutdown defenseman we desperately need, and plays better than Despres (I don't think he will surpass how Despres plays - they will at most be equal), trading Bortuzzo and a 7th for Lovejoy isn't that bad.

Yes.

Welcome aboard, Ian.


Martin, Letang
Scuderi, Ehrhoff
Cole, Lovejoy
Pouliot

 

[helicecopter]

I like Bortuzzo better.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yes.

Welcome aboard, Ian.


Martin, Letang
Scuderi, Ehrhoff
Cole, Lovejoy
Pouliot

I really hope we don't see Scuds with Ehrhoff.

I'm guessing Pouliot goes down.

 

[potsos]

For those wondering, Cole approached Blues management and stated that if he wasn't going to be considered for a top-4 role, he'd like the change to play elsewhere. Blues management obliged. He's certainly not a top-4 defenseman on all but maybe a couple of teams, but he's a better player than Bortuzzo. I'm not going to sit here and **** on Cole, but he's been extremely inconsistent and he'll have a fantastic game followed by a game with several terrible mistakes. But a lot of players fall into this category. Cole is not physical at all, though he'll occasionally be involved in dust ups and he has a nice shot. This is a good trade for Pittsburgh, in my opinion.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

The silver lining to this whole trade deadline fiasco, is that Cole is at the point in his career where it would not be out of line to expect him to "put it together" and become a serviceable #4 type defender. I would think this is the upside the org sees as well. Nor should he cost an overly large sum to retain.

At least the Blues had to weather his breaking in period in the NHL, considering we suffered the same for both Despres and Bort (and Lovejoy, to an extent).

 

[cygnus47]

Seems like they're hoping for a Niskanen-like resurgence from Cole. I like this trade.

 

[drpepper]

How many 26 year old defenders go from bottom pairing / 7D to top 4 defensemen?

I suppose Niskanen is one example although he was a bottom pairing guy in Pittsburgh until all the injuries hit last year. He only got more TOI because Orpik, Martin, Scuder, and Letang were injured.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

How many 26 year old defenders go from bottom pairing / 7D to top 4 defensemen?

I suppose Niskanen is one example although he was a bottom pairing guy in Pittsburgh until all the injuries hit last year. He only got more TOI because Orpik, Martin, Scuder, and Letang were injured.

Scuds.

 

[clefty]

Johnny Boychuk was a minor leaguer at 25 and a top-four guy by 28-29.

 

[JTG]

I like Ian Cole's game, and I think a change in scenery and a new found focus he could be a solid middle pair defenseman. He has to find that nastiness his game once had though.

 

[shureshot66]

Hopefully his familiarity with Agnew (and vice versa) will help the transition. Interested to see if they play him over Pouliot right away or give him an extra few days to get acclimated.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Hopefully his familiarity with Agnew (and vice versa) will help the transition. Interested to see if they play him over Pouliot right away or give him an extra few days to get acclimated.

I suspect Ehrhoff will be out for a few games, so both should end up playing. Which lucky soul wins the Scuds lottery?

 

[Hear Me Now]

Now if we traded Despres for Cole and Bortuzzo for Lovejoy, I wouldn't have hated the two trades, because I see Cole as similar to Despres and could understand if Despres fell out of favor with management so we traded for a similarly developed defenseman (albeit 2 years older). I loved this trade before Despres was traded for Lovejoy.

So from now on, I will just believe that Despres was traded for Cole and Bortuzzo for Lovejoy, then ANA and STL traded Bortuzzo for Despres.

Yeah, that.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

As a Blues fan, I will say that yes, some of our issues with Cole have been slow development, but it's been so much more. The guy has the tools to be really good. I remember when he was drafted, they said he was one of the "strongest" prospects in the draft, and that's not to say he was tough or good on his skates, just strong. Well, that's nice, but hockey games aren't won with bench presses and squats!

Anyway, he did sort of blossom, then he unblossomed, etc etc.. he just seemed like he could never put together a string of solid games. He looks like a legitimate defender out there at times, then next thing you know he looks like he forgot how to play in his own end. Maybe he still has some jitters from being in the big leagues, or maybe it's Hitch has him on edge because he's not sure what Hitch wants...I dunno.

Honestly, I wish him the best, but I have a feeling his career is probably going to be nothing but unrealized potential due to lack of consistency.

Sounds like Despres, except you lot aren't as butt sore as we are about it.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Now if we traded Despres for Cole and Bortuzzo for Lovejoy, I wouldn't have hated the two trades, because I see Cole as similar to Despres and could understand if Despres fell out of favor with management so we traded for a similarly developed defenseman (albeit 2 years older). I loved this trade before Despres was traded for Lovejoy.

So from now on, I will just believe that Despres was traded for Cole and Bortuzzo for Lovejoy, then ANA and STL traded Bortuzzo for Despres.

Yeah, that.

Not a bad way to think about it though, is it?

Cole to me, feels like a guy that was in the same position as Niskanen, like Despres needing a kick in the rear, Cole needed one too and a move like this could do it.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

How many 26 year old defenders go from bottom pairing / 7D to top 4 defensemen?

I suppose Niskanen is one example although he was a bottom pairing guy in Pittsburgh until all the injuries hit last year. He only got more TOI because Orpik, Martin, Scuder, and Letang were injured.

Nisky started to find his game the moment he got to the Pens, he just never really took the reigns until injuries struck last year and he was looked upon as a leader.

Putting aside how we feel about Lovejoy, reading this type of rationalization of giving up on Despres absolutely infuriates me. A 23 year old defenseman who shows a ton of upside (even his detractors would concede this) has looked "bad" for a few weeks, so to hell with him? Maatta looked like ass down the stretch last year. Should we sell him off for a 31 year old middle pairing dman one year from UFA too?

I'm not on the train that says this trade is tantamount to a terminable offense, but I do hate hate hate it.

Didn't Maatta look like ass down the stretch because he had a bad shoulder that he elected to get surgery on later?



At least this isn't Morrow for Morrow bad. After being on the right end of trades, this team was due for some bad luck of their own.

But 1 mistake does not undo the great stuff that JR has done. Like - Comeau, Perron, Hornqvist, Spaling, Downie, Winnik, and even a kids in the AHL getting so many chances this year whereas before it'd be Kostopoulos or Ebbett, or some other old ****er getting a shot over someone like Rust, Wilson or Archibald.