Trade throws new light on old rumor

RALEIGH -- The trade that sent Erik Cole to the Edmonton Oilers for Joni Pitkanen had been rumored, in various forms, for more than a year. I wonder now if that deal was the fulfillment of a rumor I inadvertently helped start.

At the 2007 NHL draft in Columbus, Ohio, Edmonton Journal columnist Jim Matheson came over to ask me about a rumor propagated on the Internet that involved the Oilers and an unnamed Eastern Conference forward. (I believe it turned out to be Glen Murray -- and baseless.)

He wondered if it could be Cole, whom Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe had long admired. I told him the Oilers didn't have anything the Carolina Hurricanes wanted (specifically, a young defenseman) and that it would have to involve another team.

We both mused aloud about the possibility of the Philadelphia Flyers including Pitkanen, whom they were openly shopping.

Little did we know that the conversation would be overheard and hit the Internet. Moments later, the draft was abuzz with talk of a three-way deal among Edmonton, Carolina and Philadelphia involving Cole and Pitkanen.

Suddenly, Matheson and I found ourselves in the unique position of having to quash a rumor we had almost certainly started.

Now, I'm willing to acknowledge the possibility that top-secret discussions were taking place involving these teams. But it seems unlikely. For one, Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford has said a number of times that Pitkanen didn't catch his attention until last season. And if the deal were really a possibility, why would Edmonton trade for Pitkanen last summer -- for forward Joffrey Lupul -- and then not flip him to Carolina?

Either way, that's exactly what ended up happening a year later -- an example of truth both imitating and being stranger than fiction.