After Don Waddell made a somewhat surprising exit this summer from the Carolina Hurricanes, the organization announced that they have named previous Assistant General Manager and Interim GM Eric Tulsky as their next GM. After spending many years among Carolina’s management, Tulsky really earned this promotion.
Officially official!
Eric Tulsky has been named the General Manager of the #Canes.
Details » https://t.co/dCpuI3uIqA pic.twitter.com/CEZbNFDLBG
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) June 18, 2024
Carolina Hurricanes Name Eric Tulsky as GM
With Don Waddell heading over to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the big question in Carolina became who would step in to take his place as GM. Both Tulsky and assistant GM Darren Yorke were candidates for the position. However, rumours swirled that owner Tom Dundon might be looking for a more experienced individual to fit the role. Experienced meaning someone who knew the other GMs and executive staffs around the league. But with Carolina doing their due diligence and reportedly interviewing outside candidates, there was also some question about the interest level among those interviewed. This was due to Carolina’s management structure which was more “lead by committee” than one voice carrying the decisions solely.
After some time, Carolina decided that an internal hire was the best route. And that hire was Eric Tulsky. Tulsky has been with the team now for ten years. And he has a somewhat interesting story. Holding a B.A. in chemistry and physics from Harvard as well as a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkley, Tulsky first came to Carolina as a consultant in 2014. He had some pretty groundbreaking work in hockey analytics at the time and Carolina swooped in to get his expertise. This was even though he was not a former player, coach, etc. like many in hockey management.
Since then he has moved up through the management of the organization until finding himself Assistant GM in 2020. Working in that position, he worked hand in hand with Waddell and Darren Yorke to oversee essentially most aspects of managing a pro hockey team. But as analytics continues to be a focus in hockey and teams across the board continue to invest in both gathering information and utilizing it, Tulsky has become a valuable resource. Even though he comes from a nontraditional background.
What This Means
For Carolina, this could be great in multiple ways. One is that they simply do not lose Tulsky’s expertise. Whether he is a consultant or GM, his knowledge is a big piece of the Hurricanes puzzle. But for another, the organization is giving a guy who has worked his way up through the team to earn this spot. If he can continue to be somewhat revolutionary in how he sees and approaches the game, Carolina may be pretty interesting to watch. They have certainly been an analytics-focused team for years now. But with Tulsky now as GM, it seems like it’ll only continue to progress.
Main Photo Credit: Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports
