Cole signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Canucks on Saturday.
Cole tallied three goals and 17 points in 78 games with Tampa Bay last season. The 34-year-old blueliner doesn't offer much upside for fantasy purposes, though he should provide some stability to Vancouver's defensive corps.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Third assist in 34 games
Rotowire
Cole picked up an assist Saturday in a 5-0 win over the Islanders.
Cole has three assists in his last 34 games, so you'll never mistake him for an offensive wizard. He logs a lot of ice time (20:07) and is the go-to Bolts' defender on the penalty kill (2:59).
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Better on ice than in fantasy arena
Rotowire
Cole has one assist, 12 blocks, 12 shots and seven hits in his last 10 games.
Cole and Erik Cernak form a strong and physical third pairing for the Lightning, but don't offer much fantasy value. The veteran blueliner has 14 points, including three goals, 75 blocks and 67 hits in 45 games this season.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Pitching in hits and blocks
Rotowire
Cole has one assist, 14 hits and 11 blocks in his last six games.
He has 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 36 games this season, while averaging 19:08. Cole is not known for his scoring touch, but he munches minutes and provides support in peripheral categories. His average ice time hasn't been this high since 2018-19 when he was in Colorado.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Opens Tuesday's scoring
Rotowire
Cole scored a goal during a 6-2 victory over the visiting Kraken on Tuesday.
Cole, who notched his first goal in five games Tuesday, ignited the Lightning's offense with a shot from the point that beat screened goalie Philipp Grubauer. The 33-year-old defenseman has three goals in 25 games this season, two shy of his career-high, which he established with the 2016-17 Penguins. Cole added three hits and two PIM against the Kraken.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Two-point game in win
Rotowire
Cole scored a goal and added an assist in Thursday's 4-1 win over Philadelphia.
His goal was a Sports Centre highlight -- he wired a shot off the end boards that bounced off and got into Carter Hart's skates and into the net. But Cole's assist will stay in his memory. He got a helper on the play that Steven Stamkos set a franchise record as the first Bolt to reach 1,000 points.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Quietly chewing up ice time
Rotowire
Cole has one assist and is averaging 18:33 a game in nine contests this season.
He's also delivered 15 blocks, 13 shots, 12 hits and eight PIM. The hits and blocks help the Bolts on the ice, but Cole does little to support fantasy teams. Gone are the days of 25-plus points, 160-plus hits and close to 200 blocks.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Debuts after suspension lifted
Rotowire
Cole, cleared from a recent investigation by the league, made his season debut during the Lightning's 3-2 loss to the Flyers on Tuesday.
Cole, a free-agent signee during the offseason, was reinstated to the lineup prior to Tuesday's matchup. Cole was accused of sexual abuse by a minor, but NHL officials cleared the 13-year veteran from the allegations. Cole had three shots on goal and three hits in 14:47 of ice time.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: League investigation complete
Rotowire
The NHL found no substantiating evidence in its investigation of Cole for allegations of sexual abuse made against him, TSN's Chris Johnston reports.
Cole was suspended by the Lightning last Sunday while the investigation was ongoing. Per the league, the matter is now considered closed. Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times reports the Lightning support the NHL's decision, so Cole should be available to make his season debut in the coming days.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Suspended by team
Rotowire
The Lightning have suspended Cole while the team investigates allegations of sexual abuse against him, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
There's no word regarding how long Cole is expected to be absent from the team, as the allegations against him are serious in nature. The veteran blueliner signed a one-year deal with the Lightning this offseason after playing 75 games with Carolina last season.
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Lightning's Ian Cole: Snags one-year pact
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Cole signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Lightning on Wednesday, Adrian Dater of ColoradoHockeyNow.com reports.
Cole is fresh off having knocked off the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals but will move to join his recently defeated foes for the upcoming season. Considering the defenseman has reached the 20-point threshold just once in the last four years, fantasy players shouldn't be banking on him producing at a high level even within Tampa Bay's potent offense.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Notches overtime winner
Rotowire
Cole scored a goal on his lone shot in Wednesday's 2-1 win over the Rangers in Game 1.
Cole's first goal in the postseason was a big one, as he scored the overtime winner after his shot deflected off Ryan Lindgren's stick and past Igor Shesterkin. The 33-year-old defenseman now has a goal and an assist in the playoffs after logging 19 points (two goals, 17 assists) in the regular season. Cole is known more for his physical play and won't likely provide much offense going forward on Carolina's third pairing.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Notches pair of helpers Saturday
Rotowire
Cole was a plus-3 with a pair of assists in Saturday's 7-2 win over the Blues.
Cole has just 16 points on the season, but he continues to be a good source of PIM (70), hits (87) and blocked shots (80). Unfortunately, this only gives him fantasy value in deeper leagues which reward these secondary stat categories.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Adds helper in Saturday's win
Rotowire
Cole notched an assist and added two blocked shots in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Flyers.
Now with just 14 points in 54 games this season (2G, 12A), Cole doesn't bring much to the table offensively. However, that's not really his role as he tends to focus more on the defensive side of his game. He currently leads all Canes defensemen in hits (76), and he's second in blocked shots (72). If these secondary stat categories are worth points in your league, Cole could be a nice roster addition for you -- check him out.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Garners assist Monday
Rotowire
Cole notched an assist and added two PIM in Monday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs.
Cole set up Nino Niederreiter's opening tally in the first period. With assists in three straight games, Cole is in a rare run of contributing on offense. The 32-year-old defenseman is up to 12 points, 57 hits, 53 blocked shots, 51 PIM, 46 shots on net and a plus-8 rating through 41 contests this season. He'll likely continue to see a third-pairing role, limiting his opportunity to generate many good scoring chances.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Slides another helper
Rotowire
Cole provided an assist in a 2-1 win over the Sharks on Sunday.
Cole has provided less offense since leaving Colorado two seasons ago, but does have back-to-back games with assists. The 32-year-old has two goals and nine assists across 40 games this season.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Sneaks in assist
Rotowire
Cole produced an assist in Saturday's 2-1 win over the Devils.
Cole is primarily a stay-at-home defender and there's no sign of that changing, but the 32-year-old journeyman has stepped on the gas with a goal and two assists over the last five contests. You can try catching lightning in a bottle with Cole, though it must be known that his career high is 26 points and he's currently on the third defensive pair.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Adds another helper Friday
Rotowire
Cole notched his fourth assist in his past seven games Friday against the Rangers.
Enjoy the mini-hot streak while it lasts. The reality is, Cole is a bottom-pairing defenseman for the Canes who doesn't score often enough over the course of a full season to give him any real fantasy value in most formats.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Draws helper in win
Rotowire
Cole logged an assist and three shots on goal in Friday's 6-3 win over the Flames.
Cole had the secondary assist on Derek Stepan's go-ahead goal in the second period. The 32-year-old Cole has helpers in each of his last two games, but that's a rare instance of offense for the veteran defenseman. He's at six points, 39 shots on net, 45 hits, 39 blocked shots, 37 PIM and a plus-7 rating in 30 appearances. The Michigan native is likely to remain in a bottom-four role with little scoring production.
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Hurricanes' Ian Cole: Not in protocols anymore
Rotowire
Cole has exited the COVID-19 protocols and was spotted in practice Sunday, according to Chip Alexander of The Raleigh News & Observer.
Cole was one of five Carolina players that exited the COVID-19 protocols this weekend, and the fact that he was able to skate Sunday is certainly a good sign for his availability ahead of Thursday's game against Montreal. He has racked up one goal and three assists across 27 appearances this season.
