Some reaction to the trade

Edmonton has been pretty busy, orchestrating three significant trades over the last three days. Carolina has pulled off the trade that they were rumored to have been attempting for some time now. In December or January, this Cole-for-Pitkanen rumor started to gain some steam. Even last June, there was an effort to trade Nic ("No Trade Clause") Wallin for Pitkanen.

As expected, the reaction around the Canes blogosphere has been disappointment. Not disappointment that the Canes are getting Pitkanen, but disappointment that the Canes are losing one of their longest tenured players. People are reserving comment for now, but it's clear that they're not exactly thrilled.

Out in Oil country, Covered in Oil isn't exactly thrilled about losing Pitkanen, but sees that Cole will fit in well there.

"Erik Cole is a more consistent, better version of Torres, albeit a version who also broke his neck a little while back and has only scored 30 goals once in his career. That said, he might be a nice fit on a top line, a shooter for Hemsky and Horcoff.Obviously, though, I'm not happy to see Joni Pitkänen go, and I expect him to promptly become a 50+ point defenceman for the next 10 years or so."

In my brief, early scouring of the Oilogosphere, that's pretty much the consensus. They think they've given up a lot, but they're getting a lot in return. The difference is that Joni Pitkanen wasn't one of the faces of the franchise, as Erik Cole was here in Carolina. I'm hoping that after my peers take time to think about it before they rant. I'm hoping that they realize that Carolina is getting a good, young, big, puck-moving defenseman with loads of potential.

What I'm really hoping is that they can get him to sign a multi-year deal for roughly $2.75/year. As I've said, I'm sad about seeing Cole go, but I'm pretty excited about the potential that Pitkanen has.