Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Don Waddell

Blue Jackets Name Don Waddell GM, President Of Hockey Operations

at CDT | by 11 Comments

May 28: The Blue Jackets have signed Waddell to a multi-year deal to become the team’s GM, alternate governor and president of hockey operations, the team announced Tuesday. Interim GM John Davidson, who’s been the team’s POHO since 2021, is being transitioned into a senior advisory role.

May 25: After a search that has lasted more than three months, it appears that the Blue Jackets have zeroed in on their executive of choice to take over the front office.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Don Waddell is their choice to take over the top job in hockey operations.  No agreement is in place as of yet with LeBrun suggesting that if all goes well, an announcement could be made next week.  Aaron Portzline of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the announcement could come on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The timing of this report doesn’t come as much surprise with Waddell having resigned from Carolina on Friday, less than 24 hours after reports emerged that he had been granted permission to speak to other teams.  Generally speaking, you don’t make that type of move without having another job in place and the vacancy in Columbus is the only one in the league so it makes sense that they’re expected to reach an agreement.

Assuming everything goes well and the contract is finalized, Waddell will be tasked with reshaping a Columbus franchise that hasn’t had much success in recent years under former GM Jarmo Kekalainen.

The Blue Jackets have missed the playoffs in four straight seasons, entering an unplanned rebuild in the process.  Kekalainen attempted to accelerate that with the additions of Johnny Gaudreau, Ivan Provorov, and Damon Severson in the last couple of years but Columbus wound up finishing last in the Metropolitan Division each time with the team struggling considerably in all three facets – offense, defense, and goaltending.

However, they do have a quality young core group to work with.  Up front, Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, Dmitri Voronkov, Kirill Marchenko, Owen Sillinger, and Yegor Chinakhov have all has some success in the NHL already and are aged 23 or younger.  On the back end, David Jiricek and Denton Mateychuk give them some quality options to work within what has become somewhat of a veteran defensive group.  They’ll also add a key piece of the future next month with the fourth-overall selection.  That’s certainly a solid foundation to try to build off of.

One of the first decisions that Waddell will need to make when the hire is made official is on the fate of the coaching staff.  The Blue Jackets have technically gone through four head coaches in the last four years with Pascal Vincent taking on the job late in the offseason before Mike Babcock had even coached a single game.  Will Waddell want to bring in his own choice and make it five bench bosses in five years or will he let Vincent – who is entering the final year of his contract – stick around?

Assuming this hire is made official, it will be a significant change of direction for what Columbus has previously done in management.  Their previous three general managers in franchise history – Doug MacLean, Scott Howson, and Kekalainen – were all first-time hires.  That certainly isn’t the case with Waddell who has 18 years of GM experience – a dozen with Atlanta and six with Carolina – on top of holding other senior titles as well.  There shouldn’t be any sort of learning curve for him as there was for the others.

In his resignation from Carolina, Waddell indicated that the time had come to move on to the next chapter of his career.  That next chapter will be another Metropolitan Division team with Waddell having some work to do to get the Blue Jackets back on track.

Snapshots: Monahan, Chiarelli, Lauer, Trouba

at CDT | by 14 Comments

The Winnipeg Jets are reportedly looking to retain pending free agent Sean Monahan, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast. The Jets acquired Monahan ahead of the trade deadline, sending a 2024 first-round and 2027 seventh-round pick back to the Montreal Canadiens. Monahan went on to score 13 goals and 24 points across 34 regular-season games with Winnipeg, adding one assist in five postseason games.

Monahan was one of Winnipeg’s two Trade Deadline acquisitions, alongside Tyler Toffoli, who the Jets sent a 2024 third-round and 2025 second-round pick. Toffoli has shared his interest in testing the open market. That decision should give Winnipeg much more freedom to allocate their $13.353MM in cap space between Monahan, pending restricted-free-agent Cole Perfetti, and William Jennings Trophy-co-winner Laurent Brossoit. The trio headline a list of 10 pending free agents on the Jets lineup.

Maintaining Monahan will give the Jets some stability down the middle, while moving on from Toffoli could open the door for top prospects Brad Lambert or Nikita Chibrikov to challenge the opening-day roster. The Jets will likely be removed from any jaw-dropping deals, with limited cap space and already-spent draft picks, but they’ll look to hold onto a playoff-caliber lineup with their signing this summer.

Other notes from around the NHL:

  • Friedman also shared in 32 Thoughts that expected incumbent to the Columbus Blue Jackets general manager role, Don Waddell, will be splitting responsibilities between GM and President of Hockey Operations through the early going. However, the Blue Jackets haven’t ruled out the idea of bringing in additional support, with Friedman naming Peter Chiarelli as a potential candidate. Chiarelli has received interest from front offices around the NHL, though he’s stayed put in an advisory role, and then a Vice President of Hockey Operations role, with the St. Louis Blues. He’s serving that role after a four-year tenure as GM and President of Hockey Ops for the Edmonton Oilers and a nine-year tenure with the Boston Bruins. Chiarelli has become notorious for his decisions with the Oilers and Bruins, though his role in Columbus likely wouldn’t involve final say. He’ll be a name to monitor, as the Blue Jackets look to pull themselves up from a challenging 2023-24 campaign.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have dismissed assistant coach Brad Lauer, and will retain Marty Johnston and Wade Flaherty as assistant and goalie coaches, per TSN’s John Lu (Twitter link). Lauer just wrapped up his second season as Winnipeg’s assistant. The pair of seasons brought him to 11 years spent as an assistant coach across the NHL, with his longest tenure coming during a four-year stretch with the Anaheim Ducks. Lauer played in 10 seasons between the NHL and IHL during his own playing career and has been coaching since his retirement in 2002. He served as the head coach behind the Edmonton Oil Kings to the 2022 Ed Chynoweth Cup, winning the WHL Championship. That accolade, and a long career in the pros, should be enough to land Lauer a new role quickly.
  • The NHL Department of Player Safety has fined New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba $5K for an elbow against Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final (Twitter link). The fine is the maximum allowed under the CBA. Trouba was assessed a minor penalty on the hit, though many fans argued the flying-elbow should have warranted a major penalty. He’ll now be assessed a fine instead, maintaining his eligibility for what will be a crucial Game 4. The Rangers are currently up 2-1 in the ECF series, in no small part thanks to Trouba’s three points in three games, including two assists in Game 3. He’s also recorded 12 hits and 16 blocks in the series.

Hurricanes Name Eric Tulsky Interim GM, Don Waddell Resigns

at CDT | by 4 Comments

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.

Hurricanes Allowing Don Waddell To Speak With Other Teams

at CDT | by 15 Comments

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.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top