Oilers Acquire Erik Cole From Carolina for Joni Pitkanen

[Thrillhouse]

The Edmonton Oilers have acquired left wing Erik Cole from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenceman Joni Pitkanen.

The 6’2”, 205 pound forward from Oswego, New York is coming off his sixth NHL season with Carolina that saw him finish third on the Hurricanes scoring list with 22-29-51 in 73 games. His 22 goals were third most for the Hurricanes and marked his third consecutive 20-goal season.

Ten of his goals came on the powerplay as he finished second on the Hurricanes behind Eric Staal’s 14 powerplay goals. Cole added four game-winning goals and was tied for fifth on the Hurricanes with a +5 plus/minus ranking. A hard hitting forward, he led the Hurricanes in hits with 186 to finish 18th in the NHL. In 2006-07 he ranked ninth in the NHL with 222 hits.

A member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team, Cole has played six full seasons with Carolina since turning pro in 2000-01. In 418 career games, the 29-year-old forward has scored 129-151-280 with 406 penalty minutes. He ranks sixth all-time on the Hurricanes scoring list and is third in goals and shorthanded goals (7), fourth in penalty minutes, sixth in assists and PPG (32) and seventh in games played. He scored a career-high 29-32-61 in 71 games in 2006-07 and netted a single-season high 30 goals in 2005-06.

A member of the Hurricanes 2006 Stanley Cup championship team, Cole has scored 6-3-9 with 30 PIM in 25 playoff games.

A NCAA East second team All-American in 1998-99 with Clarkson University, he played three seasons of collegiate hockey for the Golden Knights, scoring 52-51-103 in 103 games from 1997-98 to 1999-00. He also skated for Team USA at both the 2005 and 2007 IIHF World Championships.

[ikogan]

Good trade for the Oilers.

Edit: thought I saw a draft pick involved, yea the Oilers could of got a little bit more in return.

[ScottRasner]

WHAAAA?!?!?!?!

Wow, I would have thought Edmonton would have got a lot more for pitkanen than cole

[detroit4life]

Damn, I thought they were seriously going to shore up defencemen for next year. They had a pretty good top four in Souray, Pitkanen, Gilbert and Visnovsky. Oh well, the day is still young.

[Killah_punk]

The Oilers have been busy.

[Isles4life]

Carolina gets a new body who could use a change of scenery to fill in on its blueline and the Oilers get a gritty veteran forward who can score to fill the gap left by dealing Torres. I didn't see Edmonton getting a lot more than this for Pitkanen.

[Blouin]

good trade from the looks of it, both get help where they need it

[ScottRasner]

Originally Posted by Isles4life

I didn't see Edmonton getting a lot more than this for Pitkanen.

Really? Maybe I overestimated this guy then. From all the talks, it sounded like he was worth a little more than Cole.

[OilersHockey]

I think the mistake Lowe made wasn't actually this deal - I think he did well to get Cole for Pitkanen, seeing as everyone in the world knew they wanted to unload him...

IMO, the real mistake Lowe made was what he gave up to get Pitkanen in the first place...

[Isles4life]

Originally Posted by ScottRasner

Really? Maybe I overestimated this guy then. From all the talks, it sounded like he was worth a little more than Cole.

I don't know. I think his stock really fell. He looked like he was going to be a future #1 defenseman in this league, and he's fallen off that track and seems to fall out of favor easily. Cole is a legitimate top 6 forward. I don't think they just gave the guy away for nothing, but short of maybe grabbing a mid-round pick, I don't know what else people were expecting to get for him in addition.

[Cat Smasher]

Cole and Lubo in, Stoll, Torres, Pitkanen out...hmmm...hope they got a plan.

[canuckfan]

Originally Posted by OilersHockey

IMO, the real mistake Lowe made was what he gave up to get Pitkanen in the first place...

Exactly. Way too much for a flakey guy with character issues like Pitkanen. But Lowe did really well securing a good guy like Erik Cole for a guy who not only is an RFA, but became expendable once Vishnovsky was acquired. I like this trade for the Oilers, and in the end, Lowe did alright here.

The Canucks were rumoured to be after Cole as well - this was one player I would've loved to see in Canucks sweater, not with another team in the division.

[Snipes19]

Originally Posted by OilersHockey

IMO, the real mistake Lowe made was what he gave up to get Pitkanen in the first place...

Didn't you bash me for saying that right when the trade happened? Heh - it's all good though.

Anyways, I like this deal for Edmonton though (Pitkanen for Cole). I've always been a fan of Erik Cole. He has good size and if he can stay fully healthy then he's a good offensive player that's a legit 20-30 goal-scorer. And with Visnovsky and Souray on the point, Edmonton had a bigger need for a forward like Cole than a d-man like Joni, so good deal for them.

I like the core of players that Edmonton is building around - Horcoff, Hemsky, Gagner, Cogliano, Brodziak, Souray, Visnovsky, Cole, Penner, etc. They should do pretty well next year...

[PhlyerPhanatic]

Pitkanen's stock has fallen off the charts recently. To nab a player of Cole's quality for Pitkanen is a steal IMO. Lowe just righted the wrong he made last season aquiring Pitkanen in the 1st place.

[OilersHockey]

Originally Posted by Wes McSnipes

Didn't you bash me for saying that right when the trade happened? Heh - it's all good though.

Anyways, I like this deal for Edmonton though (Pitkanen for Cole). I've always been a fan of Erik Cole. He has good size and if he can stay fully healthy then he's a good offensive player that's a legit 20-30 goal-scorer. And with Visnovsky and Souray on the point, Edmonton had a bigger need for a forward like Cole than a d-man like Joni, so good deal for them.

I like the core of players that Edmonton is building around - Horcoff, Hemsky, Gagner, Cogliano, Brodziak, Souray, Visnovsky, Cole, Penner, etc. They should do pretty well next year...

I did bash you... so far, you were right.

I bought the cool-aid - only after a year of watching Pitkanen play did I realize how overrated that guy really is from the NHL media - he is nowhere near what most analysts make him out to be...

At the time - Lupul/Smith for Pitkanen (and Sanderson garbage) seemed ok - in hindsight, this Smith/Lupul deal for basically Eric Cole might not have been so great...

Here's to Pitkanen leaving town