Until recently, head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s expiring contract generated headlines off the ice in Carolina. That file was recently resolved with a long-term extension for Brind’Amour and the rest of the coaching staff. Obviously, those agreements were also signed by team president and general manager Don Waddell.
Now, it looks like Waddell’s contract will draw some attention. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Waddell’s contract will expire at the end of the league year and that the Hurricanes have granted him permission to talk to other teams. LeBrun adds that Carolina has had internal conversations about a new general manager in anticipation of his eventual departure.
Waddell has been with the organization for a decade. He was originally named president of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, the team’s parent company, in 2014. Waddell then added the GM title to his duties in May 2018 and has held both roles since.
His time with Carolina isn’t the only time the 65-year-old has worked in a front office, as he also held both titles in Atlanta before leaving the team in 2011. That kind of experience, coupled with Carolina’s recent success , will be intriguing for some teams looking to add to their front office either as general manager, president or both.
At the moment, the only GM vacancy is in Columbus, a team that is known to be looking for experience and will likely look to restructure its front office; Bringing in someone with Waddell’s pedigree could certainly help that program. To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Waddell interviewed today with the Blue Jackets.
It’s a bit surprising to see Carolina willing to let the managerial architect of their recent success depart or at least talk to other teams about potential opportunities. However, they have some internal candidates who could be ready to be elevated to the top job.
Assistant general manager Eric Tulsky has interviewed elsewhere over the years and could be considered ready to take on the full-time GM role. Darren Yorke, another assistant general manager, has been with the organization for the past 14 years, rising from video scout to his current title, which he has held for the past four years. Meanwhile, veteran Hurricane Justin Williams has been Waddell’s special assistant for the past four years and could be a stealth candidate if the position actually becomes available in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, just when it seemed like we were done with an off-ice contract situation in Carolina that was attracting a lot of attention in the rest of the NHL, that is clearly no longer the case, as it is now Waddell’s time to be the center attention.
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