The Blues and Pens have combined for another deal.
Just one month after the Marcel Goc-for-Maxim Lapierre trade, the Pens sent Roberto Bortuzzo to St. Louis in exchange for Ian Cole. The Blues also get a seventh-round pick at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
Bortuzzo, 25, has appeared in 38 games this year, averaging 15:28 TOI while scoring six points. His most noteworthy moment came in early December, when he was suspended a pair of games for a hit on then-Devils forward Jaromir Jagr.
Cole, 26, is a former first-round pick (18th overall, 2007) that’s had his finest NHL season to date this year, posting career-highs in games (54) and goals (five). He’s been in and out of the St. Louis lineup lately, though, dealing with an upper-body injury while occasionally serving as a healthy scratch.
Monetarily, this deal is a wash. Cole is a pending RFA in the last of a two-year, $1.65 million deal with an $825,000 cap hit, while Bortuzzo is also a pending RFA with a $600,000 hit.