In a surprising turn of events, Don Waddell is no longer the president and general manager (GM) of the Carolina Hurricanes. On Friday morning (May 24), owner and governor of the Hurricanes, Tom Dundon, announced that Waddell resigned from his position on the team. It sent shockwaves through the fanbase despite knowing that Waddell’s contract was expiring this offseason. One has to wonder, why now with just five weeks until the NHL Entry Draft and what caused this change to happen?
Waddell No Longer in Charge
This news comes a few days after the end-of-season press conference that Waddell and head coach Rod Brind’Amour had with the media. It seemed at the time that Waddell, Brind’Amour, and the Hurricanes front office were ready to begin the formation of the 2024-25 team. However, that is no longer the case with the news on Friday morning. In a statement released by the team, Waddell stated, “This morning, I spoke with Tom and informed him that I have come to the decision that now is the time for me to move to the next chapter of my career…I have loved my experiences in the Triangle over the past 10 years, and together with a strong team, on and off the ice, we have accomplished many great victories. I am grateful for the support I have received from so many loyal Caniacs. This organization is in strong, capable hands and well-positioned for the future.”
Don Waddell, Former General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes
What really got ears perked up of something happening was on Thursday night (May 23) during Game 1 of the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars Western Conference Final matchup, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun posted on X about the Hurricanes permitting Waddell to talk to other teams. Not long after the initial LeBrun post, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman posted about Waddell interviewing with the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier on Thursday which was confirmed shortly after by LeBrun. Why the Blue Jackets? Well, Columbus fired then-general manager Jarmo Kekalainen back in February. The vacancy is probably the reason why he interviewed with the team. However, there have been discussions around the Blue Jackets that it could be the president of hockey ops or maybe both positions like Waddell had with the Hurricanes.
The only thing is that John Davidson is still there as the president of hockey operations unless there is another position within the organization that the Blue Jackets want to add Waddell to. It makes sense if it is the general manager spot since he served as the Atlanta Thrashers GM from 1998-2010 along with being the assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98. He was named the Hurricanes president in July 2014 and then was given the general manager role in 2018 around the time Brind’Amour became the team’s head coach.
Waddell leaves behind a legacy as one of the pillars within the Hurricanes organization to turn the franchise around after 10 seasons of missing the playoffs. He helped lead Carolina out of the brink of possibly leaving the Triangle to where it’s now a contender for the last six seasons. Waddell also ushered in a standard of the Hurricanes selling out each of their last 67 games at PNC Arena, including regular season and postseason. That makes it the longest sellout streak in franchise history after seeing less than 12,000 fans on most nights between 2009 and 2019. The Hurricanes have won a playoff round in each of the last six seasons, while they won the first round five times from 1997 to 2009.
Furthermore, Carolina won three division titles while making two Eastern Conference Final appearances since Waddell took over the hockey operations department. The Hurricanes also hosted their first Stadium Series game which was held at Carter-Finley Stadium in February 2023 defeating the Washington Capitals 4-1 to a 56,000-plus sold-out venue. He has brought the gold standard to Raleigh and is leaving it in better hands after taking a middling franchise that might have left before the current run of success.
The most memorable trade that fans will always bring up is the one where he traded Victor Rask to the Minnesota Wild for Nino Niederreiter in a one-for-one deal. It’s still considered the biggest fleece trade in Hurricanes history while Waddell has been in charge as general manager.
Eric Tulsky Named Interim General Manager
Along with the news of Waddell stepping down, the Hurricanes announced that assistant general manager (AGM) Eric Tulsky will take over as the interim general manager while the team looks for a permanent GM. Since joining the team in 2014 as a consultant, he has climbed the ranks within the organization that’s seen him as a hockey analyst (2015), manager of hockey analytics (2017), and vice president of hockey management and strategy (2018) before becoming the AGM in 2020. Since becoming AGM, he has been involved in all player personnel decisions along with overseeing pro scouting, and the team’s hockey information department. Furthermore, he has seemed to have been molded by Waddell as he has also assisted with player contract negotiations, salary cap compliance, and other hockey-related matters with the Hurricanes.
Some think the GM search is a due diligence move since Tulsky has been linked to other teams in the past. For the Hurricanes, it makes sense to promote him to the GM position with the interim tag removed since he has been seen as molded by Waddell to take over when he eventually left. In the process, while Tulsky assumes the role of interim GM, AGM Darren Yorke will help him until a permanent one is named.
It will be an interesting offseason for the Philadelphia, PA native who is now an interim GM for the Hurricanes who are going into the summer with a lot of decisions to make with unrestricted free agents (UFA) and restricted free agents (RFA) with the draft just five weeks away.
Franchise Changing Legacy
Waddell leaves behind a legacy that has changed a franchise forever. From a team in NHL purgatory and potentially leaving to a contender year in and year out, he will be regarded as one of the men who led the Hurricanes into the light. After 10 seasons with the team, the only thing left to say is thank you Don and good luck in the next chapter of your hockey career. Thank you for bringing meaningful hockey back to the Carolinas and leaving the Hurricanes in better hands than when you joined in 2014.
