Pitkanen traded for Cole, more signings

The Edmonton Oilers have traded restricted free agent Joni Pitkanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Erik Cole. Brochu's take: This is one of those rare trades that have been rumored for quite some time and has actually taken place. Pitkanen gets a third chance to prove himself while Cole should take Torres' place on the top six of the Oilers' forwards.

The Chicago Blackhawks have traded restricted free agent forward Rene Bourque to the Calgary Flames in exchange for a future second round pick.

The Anaheim Ducks have officially re-signed restricted free agent forward Corey Perry to a 5 year, $26.625 million contract extension.

The Carolina Hurricanes have signed defenseman Anton Babchuk to a one-year, $1 million contract. Babchuk spent the 2007-2008 season playing with Avangard Omsk of the RSL. Source

NHL trade rumor update Feb 26 3:00 AM EST

According to Bob McKenzie's blog on TSN.ca, the Chicago Blackhawks sent an email Monday night to the 29 other NHL teams indicating that 8 players were available. These 8 are Nikolai Khabibulin, Martin Havlat, Robert Lang, Tuomo Ruutu, Martin Lapointe, Yanic Perreault, Andrei Zyuzin, and Rene Bourque.

The NHL Experts Blog on Yahoo! is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning will send Brad Richards to the Dallas Stars for Mike Smith, forward Jeff Halpern and defenseman Mark Fistric. The same article quotes a "league executive" as the source. The article also makes the note that the Montreal Canadiens are about to land Atlanta Thrashers forward Marian Hossa, with Michael Ryder going to Atlanta. Rumors are flying that the Habs included young prospect Mikhail Grabovski in the deal. Source