Carolina Hurricanes: The strange tale of Erik Cole’s draft selection
In Carolina Hurricanes’ franchise history, only nine players have scored more points than Erik Cole. Today, we take a look at a winding series of trades that led to the power forward’s draft selection.
Trades are a common occurrence in the NHL; players and draft picks get shuffled by general managers looking to either shake up their team, bolster a contending roster, or plan for the future. Sometimes they work out; other times they don’t. Hindsight is a wonderful gift when assessing these moves, and today we take a Pepe Silvia-level look at a series of events that began nearly 25 years ago, before the Carolina Hurricanes even existed.
We start on the twenty-seventh of July, 1995. Brendan Shanahan, a two-time 50 goal scorer at the time, is traded from the St. Louis Blues to the Hartford Whalers. Going to the Gateway City is a 20-year-old defenseman named Chris Pronger. The price is steep, but landing an offensive talent like Shanahan seems like a coup for the small-market team.
And it is, for now.
Shanahan led the Whalers in goals (44) and points (78) in the 1995-96 season. He racked up 31 power play points, including 17 goals. Hartford improved in the standings but failed to qualify for the postseason. That was okay, they had their offensive star and could move on to better years. Only they couldn’t.
The Whalers had the third-worst attendance in the NHL during Shanahan’s first season. The year before, they sat second to last. A contract that the team had with the city of Hartford was set to expire within 2 years and Peter Karmanos, who had purchased the team in 1994, indicated that the team would likely leave.
Citing the team’s instability, Shanahan requested a trade.
Oh boy.
The Next Dominos
On October 9, 1996—just two games into the season and barely 14 months after his arrival—Shanahan got his wish. The disgruntled winger was sent to the Detroit Red Wings along with defenseman Brian Glynn. In return, Hartford received Keith Primeau, Paul Coffey, and Detroit’s 1st round pick in the 1997 draft. Remember that pick; it’s key to the story.
Just over two months later, Coffey was on the move again, this time landing with the Philadelphia Flyers. Heading back to Hartford was defender Kevin Haller, a 1st round pick, and a 7th round pick (both in the 1997 draft). The Whalers now held 2 picks in the opening round.
Okay, let’s pause for a moment. You’re probably thinking “Two picks? Shouldn’t they have three? They got one from Detroit, another from Philly, and they had their own.” The answer? No. The Hurricanes’ own 1st round pick had been traded to the Boston Bruins back in 1994—along with 1st round picks in 1995 and 1996—to acquire Glen Wesley.
Who did the Bruins select with that pick? Future Hurricane (and Edmonton Oiler during the 2006 Cup Finals) Sergei Samsonov.
Fast forward to June 21, 1997. The place is Pittsburgh; the event is the NHL Entry Draft. Karmanos made good on his word and the Whalers were now the Carolina Hurricanes. General manager Jim Rutherford was looking to swing a deal and, holding two 1st round selections, had the pieces to make it happen.
He found a dance partner with Dean Lombardi, the GM of the San Jose Sharks. In what would be the first trade in Carolina Hurricanes’ history, Rutherford swapped the first-rounder he had received from Philadelphia to San Jose. His haul? A 1997 2nd round pick and a 3rd round pick in 1998. Lombardi used his newly acquired pick to select defenseman Scott Hannan, who would appear in 626 games for the Sharks over 11 years and two separate stints.
About those picks
Well, the 1997 2nd round pick was used to select Brad DeFauw out of the University of North Dakota. He finished up his college career before turning pro with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the IHL (it used to be a thing).
DeFauw followed that up with 3 seasons with the Lowell Lock Monsters, posting 68 points (32g, 36a) in 154 AHL games. He only appeared in 9 games with the Hurricanes—all in March of 2003—posting 3 goals before moving overseas for the remainder of his career.
With all due respect, the 1998 2nd round pick is much more interesting, at least from the Hurricanes’ perspective. With that pick—71st overall—Rutherford snagged Clarkson University winger Erik Cole. Cole, who went undrafted in 1997, joined the Hurricanes for the 2001-02 season and promptly made himself a fixture by posting 16 goals and 40 points in 81 games.
The hard-nosed winger quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his skating, willingness to go to the dirty areas, and net-front drive.
Those fans were incensed when a dirty hit from Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik left Cole with a fractured vertebra that cost him 22 regular season and 23 postseason games. That anger turned to sadness when Cole was shipped off to the Edmonton Oilers in the summer of 2008 for defenseman Joni Pitkanen.
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Cole spent all of 8 months in Edmonton before being re-acquired by the Hurricanes in March of 2009. After a disappointing stint in Alberta, Cole quickly re-established himself in Raleigh, notching 15 points in 17 games as Carolina made a push to return to the postseason for the first time since their 2006 championship.
His production cooled in the playoffs as he managed just 5 assists in 18 games as the Hurricanes made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
He went on to play 2 more seasons in Carolina before signing a free-agent pact with the Montreal Canadiens. That was followed by stops in Dallas and Detroit before Cole signed a one-day contract that allowed him to retire as a Hurricane in September of 2017.
During his time as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, Erik Cole put up 168 goals and 195 assists for 363 points in 557 games. Not bad for a 3rd round pick that was acquired as the end result of Brendan Shanahan wanting out of Hartford.
Of course, that trade brought in Keith Primeau, who became disgruntled himself and led to another trade that had a profound impact on the Hurricanes.
That’s a story for another day.
Okay, Caniacs, what do you think of the series of events that led to Erik Cole’s draft selection?
Next. The day that gave the franchise a face. dark