Trade Reaction: Erik Cole Comes to Detroit

As reported by both Elliotte Friedman and Pierre Lebrun, the Red Wings traded away Mattias Janmark, Mattias Backman and a 2nd round pick for Erik Cole and a conditional 3rd round pick.




Who Were Getting: 

Erik Cole is a 36 year old power forward who will be a UFA at the end of this season. He's had a good season thus far putting up 33 points in 57 games. He has mostly been used as a 2nd or 3rd line winger and has not really dominated in the possession game. His personal shooting percentage at 5-5 is 16.3 and he has a PDO of 103.5 suggesting we should not expect similar point totals the rest of the year. That said, he is a big body and an incredible skater who should slot into the Wings 3rd or 4th line depending on injuries. Although he would appear to not be a great fit in the Wing's possession style, I don't completely agree. Although he has the size of a power forward he also uses his great speed to create opportunities, which should fit in nicely with the current Red Wings roster. He will not be the difference between the Wings winning the East or getting out in the first round, but he should be a helpful addition if Franzen is unable to return from injury.

We also get a 3rd round pick that goes back to Dallas if the Red Wings make it to the Conference Finals and Cole plays half of those games. If Detroit makes it to the Eastern Finals I am fine without that pick.

Who We Gave Up:

2nd round pick- Its a deep draft so this could have been helpful but we held onto our first so no complaints.

Mattias Backman- Ranked as the Red Wing's 18th best prospect according to Hockey's Future, similar to Jarnkrok before him Backman had no real future in the Detroit system. With Smith, DeKeyser, Kindl, Lashoff, Ouellet, Sproul and Marchenko ahead of him on the depth chart, with an impressive Joe Hicketts coming soon after there was no room for Backman. As a result Backman returned home as appeared unlikely to return to the Red Wings organization.

Mattias Janmark- Janmark is the only thing that could come back to haunt the Wings. As the 7th ranked prospect in our system Janmark projected as a middle-6 forward according to Hockey's Future. That being said he is a 22 year old and has yet to come across to try and play in North America. He could flourish in the Dallas system, but he remains a pretty sizable gamble.

Verdict:

Not an incredible deal for the Red Wings but a deal that needed to be made if they hope to compete going forward. Similar to last year injuries forced Ken Holland's hand as the team's forward depth is being tested. Cole is a big body who should help the Red Wings possess the puck down low while still possessing enough speed to be effective in the Wings' system. Similar to last year's Legwand deal, the team needed help and paid the price. The Wings didn't pay an outrageous price and didn't get a real impact player. However Cole should help solidify the bottom six while providing some size and experience to the squad going forward.