Do you want Cole-slaw with that?
On the right there is Erik Cole recieving an award from Clarkson University for playing at Clarkson University from 1997-2000. Recently an Boston Herald article has surfaced saying that Erik Cole expects to be a Boston Bruin in the immediate future. Since the Clarkson jersey looks pretty close to the Bruins jersey, I felt the picture was needed.Cole has had a pretty terrible season in Edmonton so far. His numbers in previous seasons could easily be reflective of the piss poor Southeast Division. This year he currently has 22 Points and is on pace for a substandard total of 31. This includes having 9 points in his first 33 games, 12 in the next 11, and a total of 1 point in his last 12 games or 0 points in his last 9. What Cole has done consistently all season is hit. He currently leads the Oilers with 112 hits with Ethan Moreau in 2nd with 96 hits. This is where the dilemna comes in: do we dish out Cole for Sobotka and defenseman Matt Lashoff or keep him around for his physical play come playoff time? Also I believe that Cole will 100% not be an Oiler next season, so do we try to salvage whatever we can out of him before we lose him to free agency?
Personally I think trading Cole hinges on the decision for the Oilers to make that playoff push or not. Trading Cole could ultimately mean that we are not planning to make a push for the cup or the playoffs. Either that or Tambolowe has a preset deal in place for another gritty power forward. I would really hate to see us get into a 1st round playoff matchup with the Calgary Flames having the least physical team in the league, which would probably lead to the Oilers getting bent over and me having to deal with Flames fans for the next 3-4 months. In that case Cole becomes obselete here and trying to salvage the Pronger/Lupul/Pitkanen trades should be ideal for the Oilers organization.
Labels: cole, erik cole, trade block, trade deadline
posted by Anonymous at
4:28 PM
2 Comments:
I say trade him.
Cole leads the Oilers in hits but if his hits actually led to puck possession his stats and his linemates' stats would be better than they are. Don't get me wrong, I admire his style of play but 4 million for a guy bouncing between the 2nd and 3rd line with mediocre stats... he should be making Ethan Moreau money at best. I would say his physical play has gone wasted for much of the season until he was thrown onto the second line with Gagner and Nilsson.
We can always trade for an energy player (Chris Neil, Steve Begin, Glen Metropolit, Taylor Pyatt) to run into people while not giving up much in terms of assets. Sure they won't skate like Cole and they won't hit like Cole, but with Fernando Pisani and JF Jacques coming back soon I think it soon becomes apparent that Cole is just an overpaid depth player who can be traded to fill other needs - such as a defensive D-man.
February 17, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too, but you never know, he could crank it up in the playoffs Peca 06 style.
February 18, 2009 at 12:32 AM
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