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Wings lose deadline pickup Cole (spinal cord contusion) for rest of season, playoffs

Detroit Red Wings v Philadelphia Flyers

Erik Cole

NHLI via Getty Images

The Erik Cole era in Detroit lasted all of 11 games.

Cole, one of Detroit’s key pickups at the trade deadline, has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs with a spinal cord contusion, per the Macomb Daily.

This will undoubtedly be a blow to the Red Wings moving forward. Though he’d only appeared in a handful of games, Cole looked to be a nice fit, scoring six points in 11 contests while averaging 14:39 TOI per night. What’s more, the 36-year-old has plenty of postseason experience, having appeared in 46 career contests while playing in a pair of Stanley Cup Finals (winning it all with Carolina in 2006).

Cole was also averaging 0.57 points per game this year, his highest rate since scoring a career-high 35 goals with Montreal in 2011-12.

This isn’t the only injury Detroit’s dealing with at the moment, either. Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Jurco and Johan Franzen are all currently shelved as well, and it’s unlikely Franzen will return this season. With these four forwards out of the lineup, Detroit will be forced to further lean on the likes of Landon Ferraro (who made his regular-season debut on Tuesday versus Carolina) and Teemu Pulkkinen, both of whom are relatively inexperienced.