The Hurricanes had to give up a fourth-round draft pick to erase two offseason mistakes Saturday.

In obtaining forward Jussi Jokinen from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Wade Brookbank, Josef Melichar and a fourth-round pick, the Canes picked up a useful player and dumped one useless player and one that wasn't being used, but gave up a draft pick to do it.

The Carolina Hurricanes traded away forward Wade Brookbank, defenseman Josef Melichar and a fourth-round pick in the 2009 draft to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Jussi Jokinen on Saturday.

Jokinen, who will continue to wear No. 36, may be available for tonight's game against the Phoenix Coyotes in Glendale, Ariz.

“Jussi is a skilled, two-positional player that will give us depth, whether at wing or center,” Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said today. “He can play in all situations. He can help kill penalties, he can play the power play, he has had success in shootouts."

One game into the Paul Maurice regime, assessments are being made. Two of them will come as no surprise to fans: Josef Melichar wasn't getting the job done and the team needs more toughness.

So exit Melichar, who was sent to Albany (AHL) along with Pat Dwyer on Friday, and enter Tim Conboy and Casey Borer, who were called up in their place.

I assumed it was merely an oversight yesterday, but here we are 24 hours later and it hasn't been fixed yet: On the Hurricanes' roster page on their Web site, Josef Melichar is listed as wearing No. 2.

Given that the nameplate over Glen Wesley's locker is barely gone and that the Canes intend to retire that number this season, it seems odd they'd be handing it out to a new guy.

I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it yesterday, but I've asked the team for clarification this morning.

Pitkanen will wear No. 25, at least according to the same roster. Looks like Staal and Whitney will wear the As as well.

UPDATE, 11:17 a.m.: A Hurricanes spokesman said Melichar's number was generated by the NHL, which hosts Carolina's Web site, and he would not be wearing No. 2 with the Hurricanes. 

The Canes continued to retool their defense Wednesday, signing defenseman Josef Melichar to a one-year, $1 million contract.

Melichar, 29, spent six seasons with the Penguins before playing last season in Sweden and his native Czech Republic. The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder has seven goals and 33 assists in 310 career NHL games.