Review: Cole for Pitkanen
There is an interesting discussion (and poll) being held at HFBoards as to whether fans of the Oilers are happy with the Erik Cole for Joni Pikanen trade. At the time of writing, the majority of posters in favor of the deal (62% – Yes or Hell Yes… I voted Yes).
But its by no mean unanimous.
Leaving: Joni Pitkanen
I was pretty pumped when Joni Pitkanen was made an Oiler last year in a trade that saw former captain Jason Smith and Joffery Lupul were sent to the Flyers. He came over as a highly touted offensive defenseman who was only a season removed from a Norris-esque season (05/06). Something that the Oilers needed at the time.
In his time with the Oilers, 63 games in total, Joni showed flashes of brilliance playing extensive minutes and skating up the ice with ease. But there were also as many moments when Joni disappeared and had minimal impact on the proceedings but nothing of major concern seeing as he was still so young and defenceman generally take longer to develop.
Going into this off-season, Pitkanen was seemingly apart of the Oilers plans as was shown in several interviews with Kevin Lowe and Craig MacTavish right after the end of the season. But the acquisition of Lubomir Vishnovsky just prior to free agency threw this out the window and quickly ignighted trade speculation – and a few day later the Oilers had a top-six forward in Erik Cole and saw a quick end to the Joni Pitkanen experiment.
The days/weeks/month following the trade it appeared that all was not well between the Oilers and Pitkanen. There were suggestions made towards his character by current captain Ethan Moreau and made clear by Kevin Lowe that Pitkanen’s desire to play for the Oilers wasn’t strong and would only be capable with a very expensive contract – much higher than the one he signed with Carolina.
While I still like Pitkanen and hope to see him succeed – I don’t mind losing players that have little desire in playing for the Oilers. Also, his loss doesn’t leave the team with a glaring hole with the acquisition of Lubomir, who is the all-star offensive defenceman the Joni may become, as well as the emergence of the other offensive defencemen on the team – Tom Gilbert and Dennis Grebeshkov.
Arriving: Erik Cole
Now wearing the Copper & Blue… Erik Cole. Yes… the Erik Cole that was part of the Hurricanes team that crushed the hearts of millions of Oilers fans – including this one. However, he likely did help prevent a riot that would have sullied Whyte Ave.
But it would have been great to get to rub a cup win into the faces of my “friends” with Flames and Canuck allegiances.
All of that history aside, the acquisition of Cole brings in another top-six forward into the Oilers mix, which only solidifies our top end forward depth – three straight seasons of 20+ goals and 50+ points.
Did The Oilers Win?
This is definitely not the Lubomir Visnovsky for Stoll/Greene trade (clear win for the Copper & Blue). The Cole trade is far more difficult to assess.
The biggest reasons fueling the difficulty is: 1) Giving up on Pitkanen and 2) Cole is a UFA at the end of the year. The crux of the argument against the trade is that the Oil have given up on a highly talented blue-liner who has four NHL seasons under his belt at the ripe age of 24.
In his second season in the NHL he nearly posted a PPG (46 pts in 58 games). While his season with the Oilers wasn’t his best (second consecutive year of declining production), at only 24 it is likely that his best seasons are still ahead of him. There continues to remain the potential for him to play for 15 more years as one of the top offensive defenceman in the league. These players don’t grow on trees – well maybe in Finland.
While I am sure that most Oiler fans like the addition of Cole to the team… it is the fact that he comes at the price of Pitkanen. Adding salt to the wounds of Oiler-Pitkanen fans is the fact that Cole comes over as a player under contract for one more year.
So there is the potential for Tambellini & Co. to get Cole for one year at the expense of defenceman who could play for the next 15 years and win an abundance of Norris trophies.
However, let’s not ignore the fact that it seems Pitkanen didn’t want to play here – without heavy compensation (reported $5M+) – and may have just bolted the moment he hit UFA-status.
In the HFBoards discussion, many brought up the point that we will only win this trade if Cole signs an extension and we lose it if he doesn’t. There is a lot of validity to this argument. Lets look at the two scenarios:
Scenario 1 – Cole Test Free Agency
The Cole-experiment fails. They only get him for one season. One season for Joni “Potential Norris Winner” Pitkanen. Unless that season sees Cole help win us the cup it is tough to see how they win from an asset point of view.
But there is a positive to this scenario… cap space. Cole’s $4M comes off the books and the Oil don’t have the estimated $5M it would have cost to retain Pitkanen. They could still come out ahead on this deal – Oilers Sign Hossa! (or another top end talent – but of course no one wants to play up here).
If Oilers are out of the playoffs before the trade deadline – knock on wood… a lot – Cole can be used for deadline trade bait to further stock the Oilers crop of young talent.
Scenario 2 – Cole Reups
Cole flourishes and signs a contract extension providing the Oilers with a great top 6 player. The Oilers have a ton of offensive defenceman depth, which may make some Oiler fans go… Pitkanen who? He played for us?
Pitkanen
It is important when assessing the trade that one remembers that Pitkanen seemingly did not want to play for the Oilers and didn’t fit with the team (as per Moreau). He may never win a Norris and may never live up to his potential. Also, the Oilers, even if they could sign him weren’t guaranteed to keep him for the rest of his playing career as he would have been a UFA at the end of the contract – unless Lowe pulled a Wang.
Additional Notes on Cole
- Don’t look for him to take too many faceoffs… 23.7% on 39 draws.
- Likes to hit… led the Hurricanes last year with 186 hits.
- Likes to shoot… second on the team with 216 shots.
- Solid Even Strength player… 66.7% of his points were ES.
- Averaged 0.30 Goals/game… which would have been good for second best on the Oilers (Horcoff – 0.4 Goals/game).
It was also suggested by some that Cole is redundant in that we already have a power forward in Dustin Penner.
My simple answer to this is… now they have two power forwards, which can’t be too bad. As a player who can score, with a shoot first mentality, he should fit nicely along side the creative set-up guys on the team including -Hemsky, Gagner and Nilsson.
By the way… Cole will score 29 Goals this season. Mark it.
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