If Ian Cole’s situation has you a little confused or feeling sympathetic, you’re not alone.
Apparently his teammates are right there with you, at least as far as feeling bad that Cole has been relegated to the press box since early January.
“Every guy in this room has come up to me and said something about it,” Cole said. “It’s nice to have the support of the guys. I think I’m a big part of this team. I love these guys. It’s great to get their support.”
To be fair, this isn’t a collective disagreement with coach Mike Sullivan and his staff’s decision to sit Cole, or general manager Jim Rutherford’s not pulling the trigger on a trade.
With the exception of maybe Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, they’ve pretty much all been there.
“Not to make a big deal out of it, but they just come up and say, ‘Hey, man, I feel for you. That [stinks].’ Everyone has been there … maybe except Sid or Geno. It’s not a good situation. It’s certainly something that hopefully gets fixed soon.”
Cole has been a healthy scratch for the past seven games. He worked his way back into the top six Wednesday at practice, but only because Olli Maatta was given a maintenance day.
Right now he’s the Penguins’ No. 7 defenseman but could fall as far as No. 8 whenever Chad Ruhwedel returns from an upper-body injury, likely after the All-Star break.
One reasonable scenario could have the Penguins trading Cole whenever they have eight healthy defensemen, none of whom they could or would send to the AHL.
In the meantime, Cole will stay on late after morning skates and lift weights during the first period.
“I’m getting jacked, working out all the time, getting shredded,” Cole said, trying to put a positive spin on this and laugh a little. “I’ve been lifting every day for a couple weeks. Getting super jacked. Might get recruited by the Steelers.”
Reality here says Cole will likely be traded at some point, provided the Penguins don’t suffer more injuries on their back end. Cole is a unrestricted free agent after the season and stands to make considerably more than his $2.1 million cap hit this season.
The Penguins are spending plenty on defensemen — Kris Letang, Brian Dumoulin, Maatta and Justin Schultz make a combined $20.9 million — and whether you want to buy the theory that Cole and Sullivan don’t really get along, it’s hard to argue that right now Sullivan doesn’t consider Cole one of the six best defensemen on the team.
That sort of divide might be classified under “irreconcilable differences” in some places, but Cole really does think a fix can occur in Pittsburgh.
“I don’t want to play for any other team,” Cole said. “There’s no other team I want to play for. I love these guys in this room. But I don’t know. It’s up to management and whatever they decide.
“As a hockey player, I just have to try to play and be ready if that does happen, whether here or somewhere else. I realize it’s a business. Everyone is trying to do their job and get the job done. It’s nothing personal. I’m not taking it personally.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: January 24, 2018, 9:19 p.m.
