The Ottawa Senators have traded defenceman Ian Cole to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ottawa receives a third-round pick (2020) and forward prospect Nick Moutrey in the deal.
Cole was acquired by the Senators on Friday in the three-team deal that sent Derick Brassard to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The rebuilding Senators made it clear they had no intention of dressing the rental defenceman, opting to forego the immigration process and instead flip him to a contender.
Cole, a pending UFA, has spent the past three seasons in Pittsburgh and helped the club win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2015-16 and 2016-17. The 29-year-old has three goals and 13 points in 47 games this season and has registered 18 goals and 90 points in 385 career NHL regular season games.
Moutrey, 22, has yet to make his NHL debut. The Toronto-born centreman will be assigned to Ottawa’s AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators.
The Senators, who fell from Eastern Conference contenders last season to deadline sellers less than a year later, have been busy on the trade market this year. General manager Pierre Dorion dealt Kyle Turris to the Nashville Predators in a three-team trade last fall, bringing in forward Matt Duchene in the process, and traded defenceman Dion Phaneuf to the Los Angeles Kings earlier this month in another big trade.
Plenty of attention in Columbus will now shift to Blue Jackets defenceman Jack Johnson, who appears to be an increasingly likely trade candidate with the addition of Cole. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported Saturday that contract talks have slowed down between Columbus and the pending UFA, who carries a $4.36-million cap hit.
