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Mar 24, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Hockey Club defenseman Ian Cole take a shot against the Detroit Red Wings during the first period at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Utah Mammoth’s 2024-25 Report Cards: Ian Cole

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Chase Beardsley | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 9:45 AM ET

The inaugural season for the Utah Hockey Club (now the Utah Mammoth) is officially over. The team finished with a 38-31-13 record while their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, finished with a 34-32-4-2 record, which was good enough for the seventh playoff spot in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs 2-1 to the Abbotsford Canucks.

With the season in the books, it’s time to look at the 48 Utah players under an NHL contract (excluding Connor Ingram for obvious reasons) and grade their 2024-25 seasons. We’ll also reflect on how they did during the 2023-24 season and see if they improved or did worse, along with what their future holds. We’re going alphabetically by first name. Next up is Ian Cole.

Cole Last Season

After not re-signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Cole decided to take his talents north, signing a one-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks. He started the season off strong defensively, averaging a good amount of playing time while not being a minus player in the plus/minus stat for his first 11 games.

Cole scored his first point as a Canuck late in October. He scored his first goal with the team in January. Throughout the season, Cole was used more on the bottom pair as the Canucks continued to win games. He played mainly with Nikita Zadorov and Noah Juulsen and was a massive part of the young locker room as they continued to fight for the Pacific Division championship.

The veteran defenseman is not one who typically lights up the scoresheet. He ended up scoring only two goals and 11 points in 78 games with the Canucks. However, something Cole does provide is solid defense. He ended the season as a plus-10 and averaged 18:41 of ice time.

The Canucks wound up clinching the Pacific Division, their first divisional championship since 2013, which clinched their first playoff appearance since 2020. It was also Cole’s 10th straight playoff appearance. In the first round, Cole scored a single point as the Canucks dispatched the Nashville Predators in six games.

It was in the second round against the Edmonton Oilers where Cole had his most memorable moments as a Canuck. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn’t be memorable in a good way. In Game 1, he was a big cause for a couple of the Oilers’ goals. In Game 2, Cole accidentally redirected Evan Bouchard’s shot past Arturs Silovs for the overtime winner.

He continued to be on the ice for Oilers’ goals for the rest of the series as the Canucks eventually lost to the Oilers in seven games. It was later revealed that Cole’s ankle was injured throughout the playoffs, causing his ice time to dip from his high average in the regular season.

In the offseason, it was reported early on that Cole was to test free agency. Rumor had it that the Canucks offered him less money than he had been making during the 2023-24 season. Cole signed a one-year deal with Utah on the first day of free agency.

Cole This Season

Dressing for his sixth different team in the past five seasons, Cole started the season off on a pairing with Vladislav Kolyachonok and tallied an assist in Utah’s very first game. Thanks to injuries to players like Sean Durzi, Cole played with younger players called up from the AHL, like Maveric Lamoureux, becoming a big part of their development as NHL players. He was a player that Lamoureux loved playing with and learned a lot from.

“He’s talking so much, he’s communicating so much,” Lamoureux said. “He makes the game easier, and it slows down that way. He’s been really good for me. Playing with a guy who has so much experience is definitely good. I’ll learn a lot from him.”

Cole quickly became a critical part of Utah and their locker room. Throughout their incredible number of injuries, especially in the fall, he stepped up and played big minutes. He was eventually consistently paired with Michael Kesselring after Lamoureux was sent back down to the Roadrunners and continued his strong defensive play.

IAN COLE! 2-0! pic.twitter.com/44oXPQ6AFG
— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) November 3, 2024

Closing in on the trade deadline, Cole’s future with Utah was up in the air. While the team was still technically fighting for a playoff spot, other teams had passed them up in the standings, and it was unclear if they were going to sell off some of their pending unrestricted free agents. Instead, general manager Bill Armstrong extended some of their players, including Cole, who got a one-year extension.

Cole ended the season with 17 points, which was the fourth-best in his career. His defensive stats were the most impressive part of his season, though. He had an average ice time of 20:17, which was the highest in his career. He also blocked 211 shots which was a significant increase from his 166 the prior season with the Canucks. On top of that, Cole played in all 82 games in the season for the first time in his career.

Maybe the best part about the addition of Cole for Utah is his high standards for every team he plays on. He expects to win and make the playoffs. Anything worse than that is a failure in his eyes, which he emphasized after the season ended.

“The way the season ended for the team was certainly disappointing,” Cole said. “I think to say anything else would be a bit of a lie. I think there were positive aspects to it, absolutely, but I think not making the playoffs was disappointing.”

Cole’s Future

For the first time since 2020, Cole will begin his next season on the same team he was on the prior season. However, for the first time since 2014, Cole did not participate in playoff hockey, meaning he’ll have a longer summer than normal. He told reporters right after the season that he would only take a week off before starting to prepare for the 2025-26 season.

For Cole, the goal is to make the playoffs next season. During the season, the team showed it could battle against the toughest teams in the league, beating the Winnipeg Jets and the Colorado Avalanche. Now, the next step in Cole’s eyes is to find consistency, which is something they struggled with during the season.

“We can clearly play against any team and beat any team,” Cole said. “We played a lot of games against some of the best teams. We either beat them or it’s a coin flip, and maybe we lost one. But it shows we can play with that caliber of team and play that caliber of game. It’s about playing that caliber of game consistently every single night. We had stretches where we lost a couple of games in a row. We can’t afford to lose a couple of games in a row.”

The ultimate goal is for the Mammoth to win the Stanley Cup. While Cole already has two under his belt from his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the goal for every athlete is to try to win a championship every year. It’s why they play professionally in the first place.

“As a professional athlete, I think your goal should be to win the Stanley Cup every single year,” Cole said. “That’s the ultimate goal… Making the playoffs should be a baseline. It should be every year. I think that’s where we need to get to as a team. Whether it’s our team game, or whether it’s our mentality, or whatever aspect you want to talk about, that’s where our baseline needs to be. I think we have the ability to do that.”

For Cole himself, the goal is to continue providing valuable defensive play and leadership. While playing the same or more is a lot for the Mammoth to ask, especially as the 36-year-old defenseman gets older, providing a stable defensive presence is what the Mammoth extended him for.

Cole’s Final Grade

After a decent season with the Canucks that was overshadowed by a poor playoff performance, Cole put together arguably his best season of his career defensively. He came in clutch when the Mammoth suffered multiple key injuries to their blue line. He helped younger defensemen like Kesselring and Lamoureux improve their games. Most of all, he provided a must-win mentality at all times throughout the season.

Cole was an integral part in helping the Mammoth be competitive during their inaugural season. His leadership, knowledge of the game, and defensive skills helped their defense become one of the best in the Central Division, especially towards the end of the season.

Overall, Cole is getting a B-plus for this season. Taking into consideration all he did this season was at the age of 36, it makes his 2024-25 season even more impressive. While he might not be a top-four defenseman for the Mammoth next season, he’ll certainly continue being a big part of the leadership and culture around the team.

Going forward, it wouldn’t be surprising if Cole sticks around the organization for the foreseeable future. His work ethic is one that the Mammoth were impressed with this season, and his goal of consistently making the playoffs is one the team needs to have as they take the next step in their chase for the Stanley Cup.