Oilers trade Pitkanen to Hurricanes for Cole

From TSN:

The Oilers have traded hard-hitting left winger Raffi Torres to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for 21-year-old centre Gilbert Brule, and sent defenceman Joni Pitkanen to the Carolina Hurricanes for winger Erik Cole.

Read the report from TSN here.

This deal has been rumored for almost a year now. The fact is, this trade fits both teams’ needs. Pitkanen is a talented, smooth-skating, young defenseman who is going to a team who needs just that.

On the other hand, Cole is an up-and-down winger who is fast, hard-working and good defensively. His speedy and willingness to head to the net give him the ability to score 40+ goals, however, his hands are more in the 30 goal range.

This is one of those trades that helps both teams. The Oilers are shoring up their top-six forwards, as the Hurricanes shore up their top four defense corps.