CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa . -- Honestly, Ian Cole says, he doesn't know what will happen come 3:01 p.m. on Monday.
OK, he jokes that he does know for sure that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin won't be moved at the NHL's trade deadline.
Through it all this season -- Cole has lost his job and regained it, even lost three teeth blocking a slap shot with his face -- the defenseman has never, ever lost his sense of humor. Or his professionalism.
After eight years in the league, he knows this is a business, never more so than at the NHL's trade deadline.
"They are always a stressful time for everybody, regardless of what your contract situation is, whether you're on an expiring contract or whatever the case might be," Cole was telling me.
Hell, he was even dealt at one before. It was a deadline day trade with St. Louis that brought Cole to Pittsburgh three years ago. And it just may have been the best thing to ever happen to him.
Though there have certainly been some bumps along the road, like being made a healthy scratch 11 times earlier this season and reportedly being given permission to work out a trade, Cole and the Penguins have proven a successful marriage. Say what you want, both have shed the underachiever label since March 2, 2015.
Still, this year's deadline is a little different for Cole.
For one, he is a pending unrestricted free agent who is in line for a significant pay raise over the $2.5 million he'll earn this season. And then there have been the rumors. Oh, he's heard those. Too many to count, but some were legit. The rumor mill has been quiet lately though, not since he's played the last 11 games and the Penguins have gone 9-1-1 over that stretch.
Anything can still happen on Monday, but he makes it clear where he wants to be.
"There were certainly some trying times this year for us as a team and me personally but there's no other team that I would rather play with, no group of guys and no team that I'd rather win games with," Cole said. "Glad I'm still here. Glad we're playing great as a team and looking forward to trying and winning the third Cup."
Hear that last part? "Looking forward."
That's not to suggest that the Penguins and Cole are going to come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension. That's another uncertainty for another day. But it's a far cry from the dark days of late November when Cole sounded like he was talking of the Penguins in the past tense and a trade seemed probable, if not imminent.
Now his focus is only on the season still to be played with him in a Penguins sweater.
"Our goal to start the year was to win another Stanley Cup," Cole said. "We're obviously a lot closer to that than we were at the start of the year. Sixty games closer. In a month here, we're going to go through that very hectic, trying time of the playoffs. It's a situation that we thrive in as a team. Guys step up. Young guys step up. Everyone elevates their game and that's how we've been successful. It's a time that we really look forward to."
The third pairing of Cole with Jamie Oleksiak, a fellow former first-round castoff acquired from Dallas in a mid-December trade, has certainly stepped up. That pair appears to have solidified the Penguins' defense. Both play physically and have the ability to chip in with some offense. Since returning to the lineup Jan. 25, Cole has registered a goal (seen below vs. Marc-Andre Fleury and the Vegas Golden Knights) and five assists after recording two goals and five assists in his previous 36 games:
The improved stats, Cole insists, are merely a result of team success rather than anything he's done differently.
"Getting points is not my primary focus, but playing hard, playing good defense and turning pucks over and giving pucks to our forwards, usually we'll end up getting some points if we do the right things," Cole said.
Even Mike Sullivan, whose relationship with the 28-year-old defenseman has been a source of constant speculation, has liked what he's seen from Cole since his return to the lineup. Following practice on Tuesday, Sullivan was praising Cole's ability away from the puck -- clearing the net front, his work on the penalty kill and as a shot blocker -- but mostly with the puck.
"The biggest thing I've seen is the decision making with the puck has been more calculated and I think when Coley's game is simple and smart it's very effective, and that's what he's doing for us right now," the coach said.
What happens next with Cole? Stay tuned.
"I don't know what the play is here, you don't want to be one to speculate," Cole says. "We love the guys in this room and think we can win with them. It would be unbelievable to have that parade three times. Two times, we were very fortunate to have that opportunity. To do it three times would be even more special."