JONI PITKANEN | WORTH THE PRICE?
IS THIS FINNISH D-MAN WORTH ERIK COLE?
If you are a Carolina Hurricanes fan, like myself, you have no doubt heard about the trade of fan favorite Erik Cole to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Joni Pitkanen (above). This deal was highly expected by those who ran in the right circles of hockey. I wrote earlier on this very blog about the potential of Kevin Bieksa joining the Hurricanes.
“Bieksa (Bee-eck-sah) played his college hockey at Bowling Green and was drafted by Vancouver with the 151st pick after his freshman year. He made his pro debut with Manitoba, the Canucks’ AHL affiliate, in 2003. Bieksa could be considered an offensive defenseman but also has a penchant for putting up big penalty minutes. His breakout season came in 2006-2007, when he put up 42 points (12 goals-30 assists) in 81 games for Vancouver. The Canucks rewarded him with a three-year contract extension worth $11.25 million. Last season he was injured and played 34 games with 12 points…and 90 PIM.” from “Who is Kevin Bieksa?”
So, now let me do the same for Joni Pitkanen. Pitkanen may be considered more of an offensive guy than Bieksa. The Hurricanes desperately need the offense on the back end. Defensemen on the Hurricanes averaged .234 points per game last season (148 points in 633 man games). Pitkanen had 26 points in 63 games for Edmonton, a team who he had just joined before the season started. It was far from the two previous seasons (46 pts.-58 games in 2005-2006; 43-77 in 2006-2007). But he has shown potential that the Hurricanes need. That offensive spark is going to be crucial with at least 28 of those points gone (David Tanabe, Glen Wesley, Bret Hedican) and with guys like Casey Borer and Tim Conboy (8 points in 30 man games) probably going back down to the minors. Not to mention that 27 of the 148 came from Joe Corvo’s time in Ottawa. So, subtract 28, then 27, then 8, from 148, and you get 85 points from Tim Gleason, Frantisek Kaberle, Niclas Wallin, and the Carolina Joe Corvo. Hmmm, about 20.1 from each. Everyone in the top 30 in the NHL (including Corvo, who was 13th) had at least 35 points. Frank Kaberle’s 22 points ranked tied for 69th. Ugly. Pitkanen is the offense spark we need in Carolina, if he can get over last season’s disappointment. Apparently Jimmy Rutherford feels that Pitkanen can shake off what happened.
What do we lose? “First off, he is the only player ever in the NHL to be awarded 2 penalty shots in one game, on my birthday actually, against Buffalo, which he went 1 for 2 against Martin Biron. Second off, in 418 games, Cole has recorded 129 points and 151 assists, which combines for 280 points. He has had 3 straight 20-goal seasons (2005-2006 to present) and has played 25 career playoff games, including 23 in the Hurricanes’ 2001-2002 failed attempt to win the Stanley Cup.” -from “Who is Kevin Bieksa?”
Well, there’s not really much we can do about it now. We can parade around the RBC Center, screaming that we want #26 back, but we’ve already given Pitkanen 4 mil a year. Oh, well.
On another note, the signing of Josef Melichar is interesting. Tag that with the recent signing of ex-Cane Anton Babchuk, the blueline of 10 not too long ago is now down to 7. The number that Peter Laviolette loves to have. Consider putting Corvo-Gleason, Wallin-Pitkanen, Melichar-Kaberle, then Babchuk as #7 playing random times. We have strength and skill on each pairing if you mix Babchuk in with the Melichar-Kaberle pairing. I think that the Hurricanes will field a strong defensive corps this year. But we need to find someone to replace the big hole left by Erik Cole.
