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Hurricanes Name Eric Tulsky Interim GM, Don Waddell Resigns

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Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell has resigned from his post, the team announced Friday. Eric Tulsky has been named the team’s interim GM.

Waddell informed Carolina owner/governor Tom Dundon of his decision this morning, telling him that he’d “come to the decision that now is the time for me to move to the next chapter of my career.” He was on an expiring contract and was being allowed to speak with other teams, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported Thursday night.

The 65-year-old has already interviewed with the Blue Jackets about the league’s lone GM vacancy, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added.

After serving as the GM of the Atlanta Thrashers for all but their last season before moving to Winnipeg in 2011, Waddell was named the Hurricanes’ president in 2014, with an intermediary stint with the Penguins as a pro scout in between. He assumed GM duties on top of his president role before the 2018-19 season, overseeing the longest stretch of sustained success in franchise history.

While team pillars like Sebastian Aho and Jaccob Slavin were drafted before his tenure, Waddell was the GM who promoted Rod Brind’Amour to a head coaching role. He also drafted top-line winger Andrei Svechnikov with the second overall pick in 2018, drafted Seth Jarvis 13th overall in 2020, and moved to acquire top-pairing blue liner Brent Burns from the Sharks in the summer of 2022.

The Hurricanes haven’t won a game past the second round in the Waddell/Brind’Amour era, but they have made the playoffs for six straight seasons for the first time since relocating from Hartford in 1997. A run of three straight division titles for the Canes, a franchise record, ended thanks to the Rangers’ Presidents’ Trophy-winning campaign this season. He was named a finalist for the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award in his first season at the helm.

The change at the top comes as the Hurricanes need to re-sign nearly half their roster to new contracts next season. Jarvis and Martin Nečas are their high-priority restricted free agents, although the latter is expected to be on the move this summer as they’re far apart in negotiations. Trade deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel, a trio of important depth forwards in Jordan Martinook, Stefan Noesen and Teuvo Teräväinen, as well as defensemen Jalen Chatfield, Tony DeAngelo, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei, are all unrestricted free agents.

While the team says it’s begun a “full search” for a permanent GM, it would surprise few to see Tulsky have his interim tag removed. He landed his first NHL job as a data analyst with the Canes back in 2014 and was eventually promoted to director of analytics in 2017 before being named an assistant GM to Waddell in 2020. He’s viewed as the organization’s second decision-maker behind Waddell and was previously connected to recent GM vacancies for the Blackhawks and Penguins, as Friedman highlighted on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast.

Assistant GM Darren Yorke will support Tulsky with managerial duties during his interim stint, the team confirmed.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Ludovic Waeber Signs With NL’s EHC Kloten

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Swiss netminder Ludovic Waeber is returning home after making a brief go of it in North America. He’s signed a two-year deal with EHC Kloten of the National League, the team confirmed Friday.

Waeber, 27, was a free-agent pickup by the Panthers last June, signing a one-year, two-way deal. While he’d been one of the better netminders in the NL for the past few seasons, he was never in contention to land an NHL spot over Spencer Knight or Anthony Stolarz and was solely expected to serve as injury depth.

Even on the farm, Waeber struggled, posting a .887 SV% in 15 games with AHL Charlotte. He was briefly assigned to the ECHL, where he allowed five goals on 16 shots in his lone outing with the Florida Everblades.

With Florida looking to shore up its goaltending depth at the minor-league level, Waeber was sent to the Penguins along with a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick in exchange for the more proven Magnus Hellberg, who has 26 games of NHL experience under his belt as well. Waeber demonstrated improvement after the swap with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, logging 1.78 GAA and .919 SV% with one shutout in four appearances, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the Penguins organization or in North America at all.

The Penguins will not retain Waeber’s rights moving forward, as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent on July 1. It’s likely the last we see of Waeber, who had a .918 SV% and 11 shutouts across 97 games with ZSC Lions in the three seasons prior to signing with the Panthers, on this side of the Atlantic.

Waeber is expected to slot into the starting role for Kloten next season, with 34-year-old Sandro Zurkirchen backing up. Unlike many other NL teams, Kloten doesn’t have anybody on the roster with NHL experience.

Bruins, Hurricanes Discussed Linus Ullmark Trade Before Deadline

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The Bruins were shopping 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark at the trade deadline, as evidenced by reports he blocked a deal to the Kings with his 16-team no-trade clause. The Hurricanes were another one of the teams in talks to pick up the netminder, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast.

It’s fair to wonder if Boston and Carolina may re-engage on the framework of talks this summer with Ullmark still on the trade block. He has one season left on his contract with an affordable $5MM cap hit, and his no-trade list drops from 16 to 15 teams on July 1.

The Hurricanes got elite goaltending from Frederik Andersen in the regular season with a .932 SV%, but he was limited to 16 games due to blood clotting issues. He proceeded to struggle in postseason play, putting up an. 895 SV% as the Canes were eliminated by the Rangers in the second round thanks to a third-period collapse in Game 6.

Carolina has 24-year-old Pyotr Kochetkov waiting in the wings, too, after posting a .911 SV% in a career-high 40 starts, but advanced numbers suggest he wasn’t particularly far above average considering the shot quality he faced behind one of the best defenses in the league. He was good for 0.7 goals saved above expected on the year, per MoneyPuck – not a liability, but inferior to Ullmark’s consistently above-average showings since joining the Bruins in 2021-22.

In terms of a trade return, there’s a clear fit heading back from Boston to Carolina in pending restricted free agent forward Martin Nečas. Friedman didn’t disclose if he was part of trade discussions a few months back, but he certainly would be now if the teams resumed talks. He reported last week that Nečas’ ask on a contract extension is likely too far above what the Canes are willing to pay, and they’ll likely shop his signing rights this summer as a result.

While the Bruins’ offense performed better than expected after losing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejčí to retirement, they were limited to 2.38 goals per game in 13 playoff showings. There’s a clear opportunity to upgrade their top six with some increased spending money this summer, boasting $20.9MM in cap space to fill six roster spots, per CapFriendly. A large portion of that will go to a new deal for RFA netminder Jeremy Swayman, but trading Ullmark would open up an additional $5MM to use to help shoulder a Nečas extension. Evolving Hockey projects a seven-year, $7.5MM AAV deal for Nečas this summer outside of Carolina.

Kings May Non-Tender Carl Grundstrom, Arthur Kaliyev

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Each year, the unrestricted free agent market always has a few late additions, thanks to teams opting not to issue qualifying offers to retain the rights of some of their restricted free agents. We’re starting to get an idea of who some of those names could be, as Eric Stephens of The Athletic wrote earlier this week that the Kings are unlikely to bring pending RFA wingers Carl Grundström and Arthur Kaliyev back next season.

To see the organization cut bait entirely with Kaliyev would be slightly surprising. The 22-year-old was one of the first picks of the second round in the 2019 draft, and he’d been a capable depth scorer for the Kings in back-to-back years heading into this season.

But the Uzbekistan-born American national struggled mightily in his junior campaign, limited to seven goals and 15 points in 51 games. Again, he failed to earn anything above a fourth-line role, averaging fewer than 12 minutes per game for the second year in a row.

Kaliyev was scratched for most of the second half of the campaign and, as Stephens points out, only played in 13 of the final 34 games of the regular season after Jim Hiller took over behind the bench. With Hiller signing a multi-year extension, there’s little hope of the offensively-minded Kaliyev providing much value to the Kings in a limited role with a fractured relationship with the coach. Stephens also seconded mid-season noise that Kaliyev was on the trade block.

They could still trade his signing rights and recoup a draft pick for them, but they’re unlikely to land much if teams gain the sense that he’ll end up on the open market regardless. He’s not eligible for salary arbitration this summer after completing his entry-level contract.

Grundström, meanwhile, is arbitration-eligible, something that could dissuade the Kings from issuing him a qualifying offer, Stephens said. The 26-year-old has been a serviceable checking fourth-liner for the club since arriving via trade from the Maple Leafs in 2019 but missed a solid chunk of this season due to injury. When in the lineup, he contributed eight goals and 12 points in 50 games while averaging 10:56 per game.

The Swedish winger was signed to a two-year deal with a $1.3MM AAV, though, which carries an equivalently expensive $1.3MM qualifying offer on a one-year deal. It wouldn’t be a drastic overpay for his services, but the Kings likely (and rightfully) feel they could save a little bit of cap space by replacing his role on the open market with a player making closer to the $775K league minimum.

L.A. has $19.9MM in projected cap space this summer with 10 open roster spots as they try and push themselves into the upper echelon of the Pacific Division, per CapFriendly. A decent chunk of that will go to pending RFA Quinton Byfield, coming off a breakout 20-goal, 55-point season.

Hurricanes Allowing Don Waddell To Speak With Other Teams

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Until recently, the pending expiring contract for head coach Rod Brind’Amour was generating off-ice headlines in Carolina.  That file was taken care of recently with a long-term extension for Brind’Amour and the rest of the coaching staff.  Those deals were obviously also signed by team President and GM Don Waddell.

Now, it appears Waddell’s contract is set to draw some attention.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Waddell’s deal is set to expire at the end of the league year and that the Hurricanes have granted him permission to speak to other teams.  LeBrun adds that Carolina has had internal conversations about a new GM in anticipation of his eventual departure.

Waddell has been with the organization for a decade now.  He was originally named President of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the team, back in 2014.  Waddell then added the GM title to his duties back in May 2018 and has held both roles ever 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 at times in Atlanta before leaving the team in 2011.  That type of experience along with Carolina’s recent success will be intriguing to some teams looking to add to their front office either as a GM, 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 be looking to shake up their 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 with the Blue Jackets today.

It’s a bit surprising to see Carolina being willing to let the managerial architect of their recent success depart or at least talk to other teams about potential opportunities.  However, they do have some internal candidates who could be ready to be elevated to the top role.

Assistant GM Eric Tulsky has had interviews elsewhere over the years and could be deemed ready to take on the full-time GM role.  Darren Yorke, another Assistant GM, has been with the organization for the last 14 years, working his way up from video scout to his current title which he has held for the last four years.  Meanwhile, long-time Hurricane Justin Williams has been a Special Assistant to Waddell for the past four years and could be a dark horse candidate if the job does indeed become available in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, just when it looked like we were done with an off-ice contractual situation in Carolina garnering plenty of attention around the rest of the NHL, that clearly is no longer the case as now it’s Waddell’s time for the spotlight.

Snapshots: Hronek, Mikheyev, Okhotyuk, Abramov

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Canucks defenseman Filip Hronek had a career year this season, notching 48 points in 81 games while logging over 23 minutes a night in his first full year in Vancouver.  The timing couldn’t have been much better as he’s eligible for restricted free agency with arbitration eligibility this summer.  While a long-term deal has been expected for a while, Thomas Drance and Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic report (subscription link) that there has been very little progress made on a new agreement nor have their been any sort of substantive negotiations in several months.  Hronek is owed a $5.28MM qualifying offer next month, one they’ll have no issue tendering as a long-term agreement is likely to run past the $7MM mark.

More from around the hockey world:

  • Still with Vancouver, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman suggested in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks might consider buying out Ilya Mikheyev this offseason. The 29-year-old wound up with a respectable 11 goals and 20 assists in 78 games this season but his production cratered as the year went on as he managed just a single tally and nine helpers in his final 45 regular season and was held off the scoresheet altogether in 11 playoff contests.  Mikheyev has two years left on his deal that carries a $4.75MM AAV; a buyout would carry a cap charge of $1.15MM next season, $2.15MM in 2025-26, and $1.55MM for two more years after that.
  • A pair of young NHL players were traded recently in the KHL. CSKA announced that they traded the rights to Blues prospect Mikhail Abramov in exchange for Flames blueliner Nikita Okhotyuk.  Abramov picked up 14 goals and 22 assists in 59 games with AHL Springfield this season and has yet to play at the NHL level.  Okhotyuk, meanwhile, spent most of the season in San Jose before being acquired late in the season by Calgary; he notched nine points, 80 blocks, and 147 hits in 52 NHL games.  Both players are set to become restricted free agents in July.

East Notes: Marchand, Okposo, Devils, McGuire

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Speaking with reporters yesterday including Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald at their season-ending media availability, Bruins GM Don Sweeney indicated that one of his goals this summer is to make captain Brad Marchand “a Bruin for life”.  The 36-year-old will be entering the final year of his contract next season, making him eligible for an extension as of July 1st.  Marchand had his second straight 67-point effort in 2023-24 and has notched at least 60 points in nine straight years.  His current deal carries a $6.125MM AAV and his performance since then should be enough to land a higher number although it’s possible that he opts for more of a team-friendly agreement.  Don’t expect this to be one of their top priorities, however, with Sweeney indicating that the front-burner issues (pertaining to next season’s roster) need to get taken care of first.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • In an interview with Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription link), Panthers winger Kyle Okposo noted that he’s not sure if this will be his final season. The 36-year-old has seen his production drop in recent years while he has had a limited role since joining Florida at the deadline following a trade from Buffalo.  With 12 goals and 10 assists during the regular season, Okposo will likely garner at least some interest in free agency but the offers will likely check in at a number closer to the league minimum of $775K instead of the $2.5MM guarantee he received last summer.  (That number will jump to $3MM if Florida wins the Stanley Cup.)
  • Before they hired Sheldon Keefe as their new head coach, the Devils interviewed Sharks assistant coach Ryan Warsofsky for the role, relays NJ Advance Media’s Ryan Novozinsky. Warsofsky has now interviewed for a pair of head coaching vacancies this offseason, also receiving an interview from San Jose.  Warsofsky has only been an NHL assistant for the last two seasons but does have head coaching experience with ECHL South Carolina and AHL Chicago.
  • The Capitals have invited center Ryan McGuire to development camp this summer, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 21-year-old had a strong junior year at Colgate, notching 14 goals and 12 assists in 34 games but has elected to transfer to Northeastern next season.

Kings Sign Kaleb Lawrence

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The June 1st deadline to sign many prospects across the league is fast approaching and in the coming days, several players should sign entry-level deals with their respective teams.  One of those is forward Kaleb Lawrence as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the Kings have signed him to a three-year contract.  The deal carries an AAV of $852.5K and breaks down as follows:

2024-25: $775K base salary, $77.5K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
2025-26: $775K base salary, $77.5K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
2026-27: $775K base salary, $77.5K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary

The 21-year-old was a seventh-round pick by Los Angeles back in 2022 with the Kings opting to take a late flyer on a 6’7 forward after playing in just two games in the previous two seasons combined due to injury and COVID-19 wiping out the 2020-21 OHL campaign.  After being picked, Lawrence had a decent showing with Owen Sound, collecting 16 goals and 21 assists in 50 games.

Lawrence was then moved to Ottawa in the offseason and produced at a similar rate this season, collecting 10 goals and eight helpers in 30 games before being traded to London in January.  With the Knights, he added 10 goals and nine assists in 28 regular season contests before adding nine more points in eight playoff appearances.  His season hasn’t come to an end yet either even after the OHL championship as he’ll take part in the Memorial Cup which begins on Friday.

Given his age, Lawrence will be too old to return to the junior level next season.  Instead, he’ll get his feet wet in the pros, either with AHL Ontario or ECHL Greenville.

Evening Notes: Hiller, Smith, NCAA

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Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake has revealed the details of Jim Hiller’s new head coaching contract, confirming to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta that the deal is a three-year contract with a fourth-year option (Twitter link). That’s a hardy deal for Hiller’s first NHL head coaching contract – made even more impressive when juxtaposed with fellow rookie head coach Drew Bannister’s two-year deal in St. Louis.

Hiller has earned the confidence of the Kings organization after leading the team to a playoff berth on the back of a 21-12-1 record. His guidance brought the best out of most of the team’s offense, most notably increasing Pierre-Luc Dubois’ scoring to 0.59 points-per-game, from his 0.42 points-per-game in 48 games under Todd McLellan. Hiller also guided much more ice time to the team’s top prospects, with Jordan Spence playing in 22 games, Alex Turcotte playing in 18, and Brandt Clarke playing in 10 during his reign. And while their success was varied, their ice time was nonetheless a welcome boost of youth to the Kings’ lineup. Los Angeles is now entering the offseason with nine pending free agents – including Quinton Byfield, Viktor Arvidsson, and Matt Roy – and just $15MM in cap space. They’ll have to make their moves wisely, as they now look to build behind a lineup with playoff aspirations under Hiller.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Blake also confirmed to Pagnotta that D.J. Smith will return as an assistant coach (Twitter link). The Kings hired Smith in early February, after he was dismissed from the Ottawa Senators head coaching role in December. Smith had led Ottawa’s bench since the 2019-20 season – a role he took over after spending four years alongside Hiller as assistant coaches for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He will again remain on Hiller’s side, serving as his assistant coach alongside Derik Johnson.
  • More and more collegiate players are being invited to NHL development camp rosters with the NCAA season now concluded. Per the New England Hockey Journal’s Mark Divver, four Dartmouth players have joined the list (Twitter link). They include: defenseman C.J. Foley invited to the Florida Panthers camp, winger Nikita Nikora and defender Eric Charpentier to the Washington Capitals camp, and centerman Luke Haymes to the Tampa Bay Lightning camp. Divver also shared that Brown University’s Ryan St. Louis will join the Pittsburgh Penguins camp, while forward Tyler Kopff and defender Alex Pineau are headed to the Vegas Golden Knights’ camp (Twitter link). Finally, Vermont will be sending defender Duncan Ramsay and winger Jens Richards to the Capitals camp (Twitter link).

Canucks Announce Offseason Plans

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin and head coach Rick Tocchet spoke with the media on Thursday about the team’s plans for the upcoming off-season. Coming off their most successful season in nine years, Allvin started interviews by emphasizing that the team needs to enter the summer with the mindset that they only managed to reach the second round. As shared by Pass It To Bulis’ Daniel Wagner, Allvin said “I’m not happy sitting here today…we lost our last game and it was only in round two.” 

The team’s off-season plans will reflect that high bar, with Allvin most notably sharing that they’re looking to bring in a top-six winger, shares Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor (Twitter link). Allvin added that the team is also looking to bring in more speed, while Tocchet spoke to needing more creativity and shooting out of the lineup. Each of those attributes could be met by pending Carolina Hurricanes free agent Jake Guentzel, who Vancouver was reportedly very interested in ahead of the Trade Deadline.

The Hurricanes ultimately acquired Guentzel in exchange for Michael Bunting, top prospects Vaisili Ponomaryov and Cruz Lucius, and second-and-fifth-round picks in 2024. That’s a tall price to pay for a Spring rental, and there’s no doubt Carolina will make a hardy push to extend Guentzel after he posted a combined 34 points in 28 games with the club. But Guentzel left the door open to other destinations in his exit interview, acknowledging that hockey is ultimately a business. He’ll almost assuredly be due for an enthusiastic call from Allvin, should he decide to enter the open market.

The search for a top-six winger will headline Vancouver’s summer, with Allvin sharing that the team wants to retain its pending free agents otherwise, per Batchelor (Twitter link). Allvin went on to name Nikita Zadorov, Tyler Myers, and Dakota Joshua as specific free agents the team is looking to retain. There shouldn’t be any pushback from the player’s side, with Joshua’s agent expressing a desire to return on the Donnie & Dhali Show while Zadorov speaking openly about his love for Vancouver during exit interviews. The trio are a part of Vancouver’s 11 pending free agents – a list that most notably includes Elias Lindholm and backup goaltenders Arturs Silovs and Casey DeSmith. The Canucks paid a pretty penny to acquire Lindholm earlier this season, while Silovs earned expanded opportunity with his fantastic playoff run. If and how the Canucks are able to lock up both players will be a major factor in how their 2024-25 roster is constructed.

Among his other thoughts, Allvin also made sure to mention the team’s top prospects – sharing that the team wants to create opportunity for those players. While he didn’t name any players outright, it’s not hard to reason that reigning SHL ’Rookie of the Year’ Jonathan Lekkerimaki is among the top to earn a chance. Lekkerimaki recorded 31 points in 46 SHL games this season, adding two points in six AHL games following the end of Orebro’s season. He signed a three-year, $4.3MM entry-level contract in early May and could be one of Vancouver’s most exciting breakout candidates next season. Other top prospects Aatu Raty, Danila Klimovich, and defenseman Elias Pettersson could also push for an added role.

Vancouver’s postseason berth was just their second of the last nine seasons, and just their seventh time making it to the second round this century. It seems the team’s leadership core is ready to carry that winning mentality forward, looking at making impacts with externally, internally, and prospect decisions.

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