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Eric Tulsky

Metro Notes: Ansons, Flyers, Nikishin

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According to Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Penguins are unlikely to issue forward prospect Raivis Ansons his $813K qualifying offer this summer. Ansons would become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and would be a candidate to return overseas to continue his professional career.

The Penguins selected Ansons with the 149th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from the QMJHL’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar. Ansons scored 13 goals and 35 points in 60 games during his draft year, and Pittsburgh believed he could be a long-term candidate in the bottom-six of the team’s forward group.

After a year in his native Latvia and a return trip to the QMJHL, Ansons signed his entry-level contract with the Penguins in 2022 and played for their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Unfortunately, his time in the AHL has been nothing short of a disaster, as Ansons has only managed five goals and 14 points in 87 career contests. Coupled with an undisclosed injury that limited him to nine games this year, the Penguins organization is seemingly ready to move on from one of their recent draft choices.

Other notes from the Metro Division:

  • Although General Manager Daniel Brière would like to add more pieces than he subtracts this offseason for the Philadelphia Flyers, don’t expect them to be wild spenders. Anthony Di Marco of DailyFaceoff writes that Brière will only look for specific areas of need, rather than go after the market’s biggest fish. The only hypothetical option Di Marco listed was Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche on a three-year deal, given the Flyers’ need for centers. Meanwhile, although the team may like to improve their disappointing goaltending, Di Marco doesn’t believe Brière will be interested in any of the options on the free-agent market.
  • Despite having his entry-level contract reported two weeks ago, Alexander Nikishin has yet to play a game in the Carolina Hurricanes organization. Much of that can be explained away due to his visa issues, however, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal passed along a note from Carolina General Manager Eric Tulsky indicating Nikishin hasn’t signed his entry-level contract yet. Fortunately, Tulsky pointed out they’re merely working out the deal’s finer points, and the organization doesn’t feel rushed to add Nikishin to a lineup that has won the first two games of their Round One series against the New Jersey Devils.

East Notes: Hurricanes, Penguins, Sabres

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The Hurricanes have taken some big swings on the trade front the last couple of years, landing Jake Guentzel at the 2023 trade deadline and Mikko Rantanen earlier this season.  But they weren’t able to sign either one with Rantanen subsequently being flipped.  Despite not being able to sign either one, GM Eric Tulsky indicated in an interview with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription link) that he is more than willing to take another big swing on a prominent pending UFA should the opportunity present itself down the road, even without an extension in place.  Tulsky believes that the team is usually able to keep the players that they want to and more often than not, the interest is mutual so in his mind, the odds should be good that they can get something done whenever they make a move to add another key rental in the future.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference:

  • Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provided updates on a few injured Penguins. Defensemen Pierre-Oliver Joseph (upper body) and Ryan Shea (upper body) both skated before practice today while center Thomas Novak (lower body) has yet to hit the ice after being injured last week.  Joseph was injured at the beginning of the month and quickly landed on IR while Shea was injured last week.  Both blueliners have week-to-week designations while a timeline for Novak’s return remains uncertain.
  • While the Sabres didn’t have JJ Peterka back in the lineup tonight against Boston, he’s on track to return on Thursday versus Utah, reports Lance Lysowski of The Athletic (Twitter link). Peterka has been one of Buffalo’s top scorers all season with 51 points in 61 games and while a playoff chase isn’t going to happen, the 23-year-old is a pending restricted free agent and will undoubtedly be hoping for a strong finish heading into contract talks.  Meanwhile, Lysowski added that blueliner Jacob Bernard-Docker should make his Buffalo debut at some point on their four-game road trip.  He was acquired at the trade deadline but only recently received his work visa to start skating with the team so he’ll need a few practices to get up to speed first.

Carolina Hurricanes Make Front Office Changes

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General manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tulsky, continues to organize his front office after former general manager Don Waddell resigned from the team in late May. The organization announced today they have hired Tyler Dellow as assistant general manager and promoted Darren Yorke to associate general manager and GM of the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Dellow has been in the NHL for the better part of the last decade as he served as an analytic consultant for the Edmonton Oilers from 2014-16 and as the vice president of hockey analytics for the New Jersey Devils from 2019-24. In his shift over to the Hurricanes organization, Dellow’s analytical background is eerily similar to Tulsky’s with the latter serving as an analyst and director of analytics in Carolina from 2014-20.

Adding to his strong portfolio, Dellow earned a law degree from the University of Toronto and served as a civil litigation lawyer in Toronto before moving to hockey. The Hurricanes are making Dellow responsible for overseeing data analysis and compliance with the salary cap and the current collective bargaining agreement given his strong background.

Yorke has been a longtime fixture in Carolina’s front office with his first role coming in 2010-11 as a video scout. After seven years as a scout, Yorke briefly became the director of scouting in Carolina for one year before becoming the team’s director of player personnel in 2018-19. Tulsky and Yorke were named assistant general managers in 2020-21 and Yorke’s scouting and developmental background should make him an ideal candidate to oversee the AHL operations.

Front Office/Coaching Notes: Hurricanes, Clune, Laperrière, Murphy

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In today’s media availability with the new General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Tulsky, team reporter Walt Ruff came away with a couple of news items. Inside the organization, Tulsky acknowledged he would have to hire someone toward the top of the management hierarchy given that he was an internal hire and that the coaching staff of the Chicago Wolves is still being deliberated upon.

Darren Yorke is poised to take on the full responsibilities as Assistant General Manager of the Hurricanes organization after sharing the role with Tulsky over the last two seasons. Carolina may look to fill the position of Director of Player Personnel which has been vacant since Yorke left the role after the 2019-20 NHL season.

For the Wolves, Tulsky is expected to procure an additional coach to Bob Nardella’s staff for the 2024-25 AHL season. As things currently stand, Nardella will retain his role as head coach of Chicago with the team also retaining Dave Barr as an assistant coach and Stan Dubicki as the team’s goaltending coach.

Other notes:

  •  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Anaheim Ducks are interested in hiring Rich Clune as an assistant coach for the 2024-25 NHL season. Clune has been serving in a similar role with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL after being promoted from his previous position as Development Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 29th. Nevertheless, there has been nothing indicating that Clune is interested in the position in Anaheim, as he spent the last seven years of his playing career with the Maple Leafs organization.
  • The AHL affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms has extended head coach Ian Laperrière through the 2025-26 AHL season per a team announcement. Laperrière has spent the last three years as head coach for the Phantoms while coaching the team to a 98-92-30 record and has qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Outside of the progress he has seen with the Phantoms, Laperrière has also helped graduate Tyson Foerster, Cam York, and Bobby Brink to the NHL level in recent years.
  • Top professional scout Rob Murphy will be headed to another nation’s capital city as Bruce Garrioch of TSN reports he will be leaving the Ottawa Senators organization to join the professional scouting department of the Washington Capitals. Murphy has been a respected scout in the NHL for nearly the last two decades having performed similar duties with the Phoenix Coyotes and spending three years as the Director of Scouting for the Buffalo Sabres from 2014-2017.

Hurricanes Name Eric Tulsky General Manager

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The Hurricanes have removed the interim tag from Eric Tulsky and made him their next general manager, per a team announcement Tuesday.

“Eric is ready for this opportunity,” said Hurricanes owner and governor Tom Dundon. “He has a proven history of managing people and overseeing operations both outside of hockey and over the last decade with the Hurricanes. His dedication, work ethic and attention to detail make him the ideal candidate to become our next general manager. Everything we do here is collaborative, and Eric will work closely with Darren Yorke, Rod Brind’Amour and our leadership team to continue building a championship-caliber hockey club.”

Tulsky was named the club’s interim GM on May 24. He stepped into the role after Don Waddell, who was on an expiring contract, resigned from his post. Waddell has already found his next place of employment, signing on with the Blue Jackets to be their GM and president of hockey operations days after leaving Carolina.

Tulsky wasn’t the only candidate linked to the Hurricanes’ GM vacancy over the past few weeks, but a report from Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli last week indicated he was likely to take over the top hockey ops job. Earlier this month, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman called Jarmo Kekäläinen, whom Waddell replaced in Columbus, a “contender” for the role.

Along with his Kekäläinen report, Friedman added that the Hurricanes were making it clear to interested candidates that their next GM wouldn’t have as much autonomy as others do around the league. Dundon is a proponent of a more collaborative front office environment that elevates the importance of assistant GMs – namely Darren Yorke, whom he mentioned in his statement introducing Tulsky. He’s also involved in hockey operations decisions himself.

That should provide a good safety net for Tulsky, who becomes a top-level member of an NHL front office for the first time. First brought on as a data analyst in 2014, Tulsky later served as the Canes’ director of analytics and their VP of hockey management before being promoted to an AGM role under Waddell in 2020.

Per the team, his responsibilities under Waddell included “all player personnel decisions, [overseeing] pro scouting and the team’s hockey information department.” He also “assisted with player contract negotiations, salary cap compliance, and other hockey-related matters.”

It’s quite a rise for Tulsky, who likely didn’t imagine ever working in the league after graduating from the University of California-Berkeley with a PhD in chemistry in 2002. He first landed his consulting gig with the Hurricanes after publishing public statistical analysis work for a variety of NHL-related blogs in the early 2010s, namely Flyers blog Broad Street Hockey.

Tulsky now officially takes the helm as the Hurricanes enter a potentially transformative offseason with Jake Guentzel, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei among their big-name pending UFAs. He’s already signed one notable deal as interim GM – a three-year, $9MM extension for defenseman Jalen Chatfield.

Friedman was first to report Tulsky’s promotion.

Hurricanes’ Eric Tulsky Favorite For Vacant GM Role

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The Carolina Hurricanes have reportedly notified candidates in their general manager search that they are now looking to hire internally, shares Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). Seravalli adds that current interim GM Eric Tulsky will thus be the favorite for the role. Tulsky took over the interim title after Don Waddell’s move to the Columbus Blue Jackets’ GM role in late May.

Tulsky has worked with the Hurricanes since the 2014-15 season when he was hired on as a data analyst after publicly supporting the advancements of advanced statistics. He’s since grown into a role as the team’s ’Director of Analytics’, ’Vice President of Hockey Management’, and ’Assistant General Manager’. Tulsky popularly left a career in chemistry, where he had once filed 27 different patents relating to electrolyte separators and nanoparticles.

Tulsky will face a very busy summer should he take on the new role. The Hurricanes have 13 pending free agents – including Jake Guentzel, Brady Skjei, and Brett Pesce – with just $26.874MM in cap space. Each player has expressed interest in returning, but likely won’t take the discounts the Hurricanes will need. The team is also entrenched with trade rumors around high-scoring forward Martin Necas – who could fetch a major return on the open market, potentially even landing Carolina former Vezina Trophy-winner Linus Ullmark. The hectic off-season will be a nice trial by fire for Tulsky, as he’s expected to earn the keys to one of the strongest, and most expensive, lineups in the NHL.

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.

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