The Oilers were far from done dealing trades on free agent day, as they sent defenseman Joni Pitkanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Erik Cole. The Hurricanes will still have to sign Pitkanen, who is a restricted free agent, while Cole still has a year left on his current deal.
In Pitkanen, the Hurricanes receive an underachieving defenseman, who has had a hard time adjusting to his teams that he had played for. Last season, he fell off the scoring map with some injuries, but he has been a top 200 pool player, which is very good for a defenseman and he hopes to get back up there soon. He could be a good sleeper-type player in your draft, if he can return to form in the Eastern Conference.
The Oilers getting Cole receive and injury-friendly forward, but has a very good scoring rate, notching 22 goals last season for Carolina. Cole was out of the line-up three times for the Canes, but only missed a maximum of 4 games at a time. He also is a gritty winger, who could very well fit with more of that young talent the Oilers are bringing up.
| To Carolina | Age | Games | Points | Contract on July 1st |
| Joni Pitkanen, D | 24 | 63 | 26 | RFA |
| --- | ||||
| To Edmonton | ||||
| Erik Cole, F | 29 | 73 | 51 | 1 year, $4 million |
Both players have been rumoured to be on the move for quite some time and it now puts both their speculation mills to rest for the time being. It certainly is a good deal for the Oilers, who are improving at a rapid pace at the moment, while the Hurricanes gain a second power play defenseman for good scoring depth from the blueline, something they lacked last season.
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