For the third consecutive year, the Carolina Hurricanes had upwards of 50 wins in 2023–24. They finished second in both the Eastern Conference and the Metropolitan Division behind only their rivals the New York Rangers, who would eventually end their season in round two in six games. Just eight days after the last game of the season, Don Waddell would resign from his post as president/general manager after nearly ten years in the organization and six in his then-current post and joined the Columbus Blue Jackets front office four days. The wind was already blowing in a direction that indicated that change was imminent for this team and franchise, but this most certainly intensified the degree to which great change was set to occur for Carolina. How has the beginning of this era looked for them? Let us conduct a deep dive.

The replacement for Waddell came from inside the house, with assistant GM Eric Tulsky initially being appointed GM on an interim basis before having the “interim” tag removed. Despite being an internal promotion, Tulsky is far from a boring addition to the contingent of NHL GMs. Having a degree from Harvard and a PhD from Cal, he is a literal genius who worked in nanotechnology for a decade and holds 24 patents. His intelligence would eventually have him shining through in the hockey analytics community with Philadelphia Flyers fan blog (Tulsky grew up in Philly after having been born in Michigan and grew up a Flyers and Phillies fan) Broad Street Hockey and SB Nation blog Outnumbered (the latter of which he launched) to the point where NHL teams would have him do work for them as a consultant before initially being hired as a part-time, remote analyst for Carolina before being promoted to full-time within a year and moving to Raleigh for the gig. He would subsequently rise up the ranks, becoming head of hockey analytics in 2017, vice president of hockey management and strategy in 2018, and AGM in 2021 before this point at which you find him. Despite being a long-standing and trusted figure within their operations, this is more of a breath of fresh air personnel move than most external hires they could have made just by being a smart individual from a distinct background that is useful, yet simultaneously vastly different from that of your standard old boys’ club member. I’m really excited to see what Tulsky does as “da boss” long-term.

The first major event of the summer happened the day before free agency and was directly tied to it. The Hurricanes had met the asking price of ex-Penguin LW/trade deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel, but were nevertheless turned down by him with the UFA period looming. The last minute trade sent him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a third round pick in 2025. It is unfortunate that they were leveraged in a situation like that with a player of Guentzel’s stature and capability, but the “against the deadline” work here by Tulsky was quite good in avoiding them losing JG59 for nothing. Perhaps this was a disappointing return to invested onlookers, but not bad given the circumstances, and it also wouldn’t surprise me if that is either a selection that AGM/director of amateur scouting & player development Darren Yorke does something with. It could also be leveraged into something else, who knows?

Carolina was somewhat handcuffed here by the expiring deals that were approaching. Ultimately, RW Stefan Noesen and D Brett Pesce both departed for the New Jersey Devils on three- and six-year deals, while D Brady Skjei signed with Nashville on a seven-year contract and LW Teuvo Teräväinen signed in Chicago on a one-year deal. C Evgeny Kuznetsov was placed on waivers for purposes of mutual contract termination and would sign with the KHL’s SKA Saint Petersburg after going unclaimed. The maneuvering done by Tulsky in response saw him sign LW William Carrier (who hit the market from VGK) to a six-year deal with a $2M AAV (no, that’s not a typo). He’s a respectable bottom-six producer with a good work rate and I’d say the price tag year-to-year works well enough for the role he’ll play, yet it also works out well for Carrier given that the term will serve him just fine financially, but this addition definitely isn’t going to turn any heads and will perhaps cause displeasure with its length. D Shayne Gostisbehere was also signed to a three-year deal with a $3.2M cap hit. “Ghost” has sometimes struggled to hit his ceiling in his career (though not always for reasons of his own doing), but he did well last year in Detroit, tallying 56 points in 81 games. This contract also comes below his market value, so it is, on its face, a good signing. LW Eric Robinson was brought on to fill what will likely be a traditional bottom-six grinder role on terms of one-year, $950K. Robinson has shown some capability for productivity in the fairly recent past, posting 24 and 27 points in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, but had a down year this past campaign in which he was demoted to the AHL by Columbus before being traded to Buffalo. If we see him renewed and at his best, maybe there’s something here, but it is disappointing to see yet another sign of their forward group taking a step back (potentially, anyways). C/LW Tyson Jost was signed to a one-year deal with league minimum terms, a price tag of $775K. He serves as yet another depth forward, but they have the fortune of not having him come in on an overpay such as the $2M Buffalo was paying for his services last season. For the remaining contract signed on day one, Tulsky and the front office brought on D Sean Walker for five-year deal carrying a $3.6M cap hit. Walker initially spent the 2023-24 campaign with Philadelphia, having been acquired in the three-team deal revolving around D Ivan Provorov involving the Columbus Blue Jackets and Walker’s former team the Los Angeles Kings. Walker saw an increased role and did very well, primarily playing alongside Nick Seeler and performing as a very solid TWD with offensive upside that statistically would be recognized in the Byron Bader model as league-average production for his position. On an expiring deal with a rebuilding team, he was flipped to Colorado in exchange for C Ryan Johansen and a first round pick in 2025. Walker was solid in the regular season for the Avalanche but did not deliver what was hoped for from a rental in the postseason. The sample size, it has been noted, of him as a significant piece is small, but even when considering the totality of things (never mind the potential upside), this is a fair deal if perhaps somewhat long for a defenseman turning 30 in November. Overall, though, the Canes seem to be moving into uncertain territory. There’s less of a sure thing here, even if some of the assets they lost might not be headed for good things for certain this coming year (additionally, in Pesce’s case, he has a lengthy injury history and is coming off of a somewhat rough campaign in some respects – He had a career high in Corsi as his numbers there continue to climb, but a career low in points, which isn’t a great sign even for a guy not known for his offensive prowess).

Winger Jordan Martinook was retained on a three-year, $9.15M deal, which was a good culture move due to his utility as a leadership figure within the dressing room, but also valuable due to his capability of solid bottom of the roster offensive production. Upon the expiry of his ELC, C Jack Drury was retained on a two-year deal worth $3.45M. D Jalen Chatfield was also signed to a pretty team friendly contract at 3-years, $9M. He is a solid bottom pairing defenseman with a good amount of offensive upside, tallying 8 goals and 14 assists with a +15 last season. His contract is worth less than what was projected, making this a steal for Carolina. The first order of business that Tulsky had was a re-signing, keeping C Ryan Suzuki in the organization on a one-year, league minimum deal. Most importantly for re-signings, however, D Jaccob Slavin was inked to an eight-year extension with an AAV of $6,461,250, with a NMC for the first seven seasons and a NTC for the last. I think Slavin has earned it; he is the greatest point share monger of his generation of blue liners, and playing Norris conversation level defense while winning a Lady Byng Trophy is no small feat. The money isn’t bad for the team, either, in the grand scale, particularly as the cap gradually increases. I think both sides should be content with this one. RW/C Martin Necas also was re-signed, avoiding arbitration, to a two-year deal worth $13M. He was the subject of much trade speculation, and truthfully, they probably should have gone that route. As talented as Necas is, he is a player built for the rush on a team neither built nor coached by Rod Brind’amour for it, and correspondingly doesn’t get much ice time. It would’ve made more sense to find a trade partner willing to use him and pay for him than keep him stuck in limbo while inevitably getting limited returns for that price tag.

Before we wrap up the transactions section, though, I feel the need to mention that effective “tweener” defenseman Dylan Coghlan was traded to the Winnipeg Jets for Future Considerations. I think the value here is exceptional, as Coghlan, despite having flashes of brilliance at times in his career, has had trouble being a consistent roster presence. Meanwhile, we all know what a legend Future Considerations is. He should be welcomed back to Carolina (having previously been dealt out of Raleigh to Vegas, incidentally, for Coghlan and LW Max Pacioretty) with open arms. Over his long and storied career, he has been a terrific trade piece, even once netting Detroit a very valuable asset in Kris Draper from the *original* Winnipeg Jets (though this would also be a tough look for Future Considerations and Winnipeg, as he was the significantly less valuable part of the deal in the long run for their respective new teams, with the Jets relocating and Detroit winning four Cups with Draper as a pretty respectable contributor to that success). Overall, his impact on the league has been terrific, despite his constant journeyman status that would probably make Jaromir Jagr impressed. The Canes faithful should be very happy to have him return.

Carolina did not have a round one selection in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in Vegas due to a trade with Chicago that netted them two seconds, but they used them to pretty good success, acquiring a solid TWD in the form of Dominik Badinka and a very talented offensive winger in Nikita Artamanov. The former was a top 100 FloHockey ranked prospect at a spot higher than the one he was selected at. Already signed to his ELC, Badinka, a talented defenseman with four way mobility, should take steps continuing to play with the SHL’s Malmö Redhawks on loan this coming season. The latter was absolutely, unequivocally a first round caliber player. As has been discussed in the past on here, his playmaking and smarts have led him to already have pro success in the KHL with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, with him racking up 7 goals and 16 assists in 54 regular season games this past season. His overseas development should be handled just fine by Igor Larionov, Sr. and co. This was an absolute steal by Yorke, Tulsky, and the rest of the draft team and they should be very proud of their work there, as should the scouts. As was covered in that previously linked article, Baie-Comeau Drakkar RW Justin Poirier was a solid young player in the Q this past season with terrific goal scoring capability, making him another high value selection, in round five. I was impressed by the selection of D Timur Kol, as well. The blue liner was initially a product of CSKA Moscow’s system but has spent the last couple of years in Avangard Omsk’s pipeline. He is primarily a traditional DFD, but has plenty of skating ability and is a more than adequate puck mover for the purpose of creating zone exits. As a late August birthday and ergo one of the youngest players in this class, Kol has a long runway and it should be interesting to see what he does with it. He will play for SKA-1946 in the MHL this coming year. Overall, the draft process by Yorke and his colleagues was solid, but these were the selections that stood out to me the most.

All in all, the Canes were inevitably headed into a situation that wasn’t going to be pretty. I think Tulsky has done alright handling it, but there is also the very real possibility they take a step back this season. The forward depth just isn’t there, as their first line is terrific but it becomes questionable after that (though I think the picture might become brighter if we see an impressive season from rookie Bradly Nadeau), they retained a piece that is very good but has no real role to play for them in Necas, and there are ample reasons to think that they’ll be taking it on the chin on the defensive end, as well. That said, they get glowing marks for another successful draft and for some signs of ingenuity that are already on display. I think a B- grade suits Carolina here. The hand they were dealt was bad and they haven’t played it super well, but it hasn’t been all awful, and I can see a good turnaround with a leadership group such as this in charge.