Utah Mammoth’s 2025-26 Report Cards: Ian Cole

The Utah Mammoth’s 2025-26 season is officially over. The team finished with a 43-33-6 record, good enough to clinch the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. Despite a strong series, the Mammoth lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 1 in six games. Meanwhile, their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners, finished with a 34-28-10 record, placing seventh in the Pacific Division, outside of a playoff spot.

With the season in the books, it’s time to look at the 49 players under an NHL contract and grade their 2025-26 season. Over the course of this summer, we’ll take a look at their season, their future, and give them an overall grade. We’re going alphabetically by first name. Next up is Ian Cole.

Player Info

Age: 37

2025-26 NHL Stats: Three goals, 21 assists, 24 points in 82 games

2025-26 Postseason Stats: One goal, one assist, two points in six games

Originally Acquired: Signed in free agency on July 1, 2024, by the Utah Hockey Club

Contract Status: Pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) 

Season Overview

Failing to make the playoffs last season clearly was something Cole was very frustrated by. It was the first time the defenseman hadn’t played an NHL playoff game since the very first couple of seasons in his career with the St. Louis Blues. Throughout the final road trip and exit interviews, Cole voiced his opinions on the team. While there was growth, it was a failure of a season with no postseason hockey. Perhaps it was the clear, strong dedication to winning and the leadership that got him a one-year extension with the Mammoth.

Although approaching the end of his career, Cole is still an important NHL defenseman for any team, especially the younger ones. He showed why last season, when he helped take Maveric Lamoureux under his wing. To start the season, that mentor role came up big again when he was paired alongside rookie Dmitri Simashev for the first couple of weeks.

Cole played a key part in helping Simashev feel comfortable in the NHL. Similar to what Lamoureux said about the defenseman last season, Cole spoke to the rookie after every shift, helping him see what he did right, wrong, and what he could improve on. Having that NHL experience paired alongside him was important to Simashev’s development. While he didn’t spend the whole season with the Mammoth, it was still a great year for him, where he learned a lot, and some of that has to be attributed to his partner.

Five games into the season, Cole got his first point, an assist on Liam O’Brien’s goal against the San Jose Sharks. His first goal of the season came just a few games later against his old team, the Blues. Cole was a plus-four in that game, his best plus-minus rating in a game with the Mammoth.

Cole’s first multi-point night came in the first game of November, a two-assist night against the Tampa Bay Lightning. While November wasn’t a bad month for Cole with four assists towards the end of the month, the Mammoth found themselves on a losing skid. The defenseman, like usual, was a key voice for the team. He was a main person in the locker room who publicly said that the Mammoth weren’t playing well enough and how the things everyone was saying needed to be fixed, genuinely needed to be fixed.

As the solidified third defenseman on the left-hand side, Cole found himself paired with a variety of names, including Lamoureux, Sean Durzi, and Nick DeSimone. Both Durzi and DeSimone ended up playing with Cole throughout the season.

While Cole isn’t the most offensive defenseman, he did manage to chip in some points going into 2026. He scored his second goal and recorded his second multipoint game of the season against the Anaheim Ducks at the start of December. In January, against the New York Rangers, Cole broke a 10-game pointless stretch with an assist, helping the Mammoth start a hot January. Later in the month, the defenseman had his third multipoint game of the season, a two-assist outing against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Though on the third pairing, Cole was still a significant player defensively for the Mammoth. He played around 16 to 20 minutes a night and was consistently on the plus side of the plus-minus stat. That’s not to say Cole never had some bad nights. He had a significantly bad game against the Florida Panthers at the end of January, where he directly caused a goal due to a bad turnover. 

However, more often than not, he followed up his bad games with good ones. After that Panthers game, Cole was a plus player in four of his next five games. Despite being older, the defenseman continued being a great defensive defenseman throughout 2026, earning him a promotion to the top defensive pairing during a game in March against the Philadelphia Flyers, with MacKenzie Weegar and Mikahil Sergachev being unavailable for the game.

Cole scored one more goal during the season, a game-tying goal against his old team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was his first goal since Dec. 3 and his first-ever goal scored at the Delta Center. Cole also produced four more assists to finish out the season with 23 points. That tally was the defenseman’s highest since the 2019-20 season with the Colorado Avalanche. 

The defenseman also finished sixth among Mammoth skaters in the plus-minus stat line, finishing as a plus-16. Finally, Cole played all 82 games in the season for the Mammoth for the second straight season.

Unlike last season, Cole got to play postseason hockey, his 12th time doing so. It was in the playoffs that the defenseman played some of his best hockey of the season. He got an assist in Game 1 against the Golden Knights. In Game 4, Cole scored the second goal of the game to help the Mammoth rally back from a 3-0 deficit. In three of the six games of the series, he had north of 20 minutes of ice time.

Two goals in 29 seconds! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/6IfVqguNma

— Utah Mammoth (@utahmammoth) April 28, 2026

Despite the solid play from Cole, the Mammoth could not overcome the experience that the Golden Knights boasted. The team was eliminated after a 5-1 Game 6 loss, ironically, Cole’s worst game of the series. The defenseman was tied for third in points by a defenseman with two.

Heading into his 17th NHL season, Cole doesn’t have a lot more to learn. However, for him, there’s always room for growth. The offseason will be filled with improvement, he hopes not just for himself, but for the team as a whole.

“There’s always room for growth,” Cole said. “As a competitor, as a professional, it’s multifaceted. Everyone can get better at everything, all the way across the board. Looking at that and trying to improve all those aspects of your game is important.”

The Future

For Cole personally, this summer will be another big one for him. For the first time since arriving in Utah, the defenseman will likely be heading to free agency. Last season, he received an extension right after the trade deadline. This season, it looks like Cole’s future might be elsewhere.

As of right now, no extension talks have taken place that we know about. Cole confirmed during his exit interview that he has no clue if he’s returning to the Mammoth. However, it sounds like he wants to. Throughout his exit interview, Cole brought up how he thinks the Mammoth has one of the deepest bluelines in the league and how skilled this young team is. He also mentioned how much fun he had playing in Utah, refusing to pick out one particular moment as his favorite of the season.

“For me, it’s not necessarily like one moment, Cole said. “It’s the culmination of all those things. Really valuing that time together, that camaraderie, it’s something that I don’t overlook. It’s a really great team to be part of, and one that hopefully we’ll get to play a little bit longer next year.”

However, the question isn’t if Cole deserves to return. The question is, do the Mammoth really need him? The blueline is very crowded for the team, especially with the acquisition of Weegar. Five of the seven defensemen who regularly played this past season are signed for next season. The Mammoth also have Simashev, Lamoureux, Artem Duda, and Max Szuber all waiting in the AHL. With all the names and more pushing for a spot on the blueline, does that push Cole out?

It very well could. The Mammoth have to start giving attention to those younger guys like Simashev and Lamoureux if they truly value them as part of their future. Time in the AHL is good, but there’s a difference between being developed and being trapped. With Simashev, he very well could/should be an NHL mainstay next season. With Lamoureux, he’s now spent two seasons with the Roadrunners. When will he get a full-time chance?

Cole, who values winning a Stanley Cup so highly, might have to think about his own future as well. At 37, if he wants to win another cup within the next one to two years, it probably won’t be with the Mammoth. They still have an entire wave of young talent who haven’t even played an NHL game yet. 

If Cole does leave, it will be underestimated how much the Mammoth will miss him. While they can probably find another third-pairing defenseman (even within their own system), Cole brought an incredible amount of leadership, experience, and honesty to the locker room. He was always a player who told the media exactly what the Mammoth did right and wrong, no matter how bad it was. The defenseman mentored so many prospects who will keep on playing in Utah, perhaps even helping the team win a cup.

However, at the end of every rebuild, veterans who came to help build a team slowly fade away. It started last season with Nick Bjugstad. This season, Alex Kerfoot and Cole might be the casualties.

Someone will pick up Cole if he does indeed hit free agency. Similar to how the Panthers picked up Nate Schmidt during their 2025 championship season, it wouldn’t be surprising if a contender picks him up on a cheap deal to further bolster their depth. Take it from one of Cole’s former coaches: you know what you’re getting when you bring him onto a team.

“He’s steady, a very consistent player,” Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “You know you’re getting. His game doesn’t waver, and that’s why he’s played in this league as long as he has.”

Overall Grade

No matter what happens to Cole this summer, the end is coming. Retirement will happen one day in the near future for him. Yet, if you look at his stats alone, you couldn’t see it. Cole has been consistent throughout his whole career, and that continued into this season with some improvements. His defensive stats improved, and he produced six more points than he did last season.

Brind’Amour said any team knows what you’re getting when you bring in Cole. That’s the best way to describe the defenseman. Throughout his two seasons with the Mammoth, Cole has been a reliable third-pairing defenseman. Though he’s not perfect and can cost you some bad turnovers, he plays well in sheltered minutes. He also brings the aforementioned leadership, honesty, and experience like no one else.

Overall, Cole is getting a B-plus for this season. Everyone knew what the defenseman was going to do this season, and he met those expectations perfectly. He was a big part of the Mammoth’s solid play in the postseason as well, bringing much-needed knowledge of how to play in those big games. While he wasn’t the Mammoth’s top defenseman or everything, he was a very reliable depth option that served his role well every single night.

No one knows if Cole will return for next season, one that he expects the Mammoth to go even further in. If he does, it will be much of the same as what everyone saw these past two seasons. If not, Cole’s legacy with the Mammoth will live on through the play of guys like Simashev and Lamoureux, along with the tight and strong locker room culture he helped build. Even one day when he’s not there, and the team eventually wins a Stanley Cup, the defenseman’s fingerprints will be all over that championship because of the massive and underrated impact he made these past two years.