It’s been a busy time for the Carolina Hurricanes in the third week of June. They have made front-office moves in Raleigh, naming a new head coach for their American Hockey League affiliate. Furthermore, there is a possibility of more contract extensions coming to the main roster as well. There is so much to cover so let’s dive into the news week for the Hurricanes in the latest Martin’s Musings.
Eric Tulsky Is Officially the General Manager
On Tuesday, June 18, the Hurricanes named Eric Tulsky the next general manager of the team after naming him the interim GM after the departure of Don Waddell. It comes as no surprise as people believed it would be Tulsky taking over for Waddell and the search was mainly for due diligence. He has been on the rise within the Hurricanes organization since joining the team in 2014. Tulsky joined as a consultant in 2014 followed by becoming a hockey analyst in 2015. Just two years later, he became the manager of hockey analytics in 2017 and then continued his rise by being promoted to vice president of hockey management and strategy in 2018. Before becoming the GM, he was promoted once again to be one of two assistant general managers in 2020. Tulsky was a former hockey blogger in Philadelphia writing about the Flyers and is now the general manager of Carolina.
Related: Hurricanes’ Don Waddell Steps Down as GM, Eric Tulsky Named Interim
When asked about Tulsky, Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon stated, “Eric is ready for this opportunity. 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.”
The many hats that Tulsky has worn over the last 10 seasons have set him up to be where he is now. Furthermore, with how the Hurricanes front office collaborates on everything, it won’t all be on him to get the team to the ultimate goal. What Carolina has done over the last six seasons has been a group effort from the scouts and analytics department to the coaching staff and the owner himself. What has happened for the Hurricanes is on everyone, not one person. Tulsky and company have already been busy with signing Jalen Chatfield to a three-year extension on June 14 to keep him in Carolina until the summer of 2027. There have been rumors of other deals being in the works and one of them is about a cornerstone to the franchise.
Possible Extension for Jaccob Slavin
One of the main things that has been mentioned over the last week is a possible contract extension for franchise defenseman Jaccob Slavin. Per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and the 32 Thoughts Podcast believes that the Hurricanes and Slavin have agreed to a contract extension. However, he does not know the specifics of the term and amount, but he believes that the deal will be an eight-year, $52 million contract. That comes out to a $6.5 million average annual value (AAV) that will kick in after the 2024-25 season. The deal would end when he is 38 years old. Carolina is not known to give that long of term to a player around Slavin’s age, but when you’re the best defensive defenseman in the NHL, it makes sense to break the rules for a guy like him.
Related: Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin Earns Well-Deserved Second Lady Byng Trophy
Slavin is in the last year of his seven-year, $37.1 million deal that he signed back in July 2017 when Ron Francis was still the general manager. His current cap hit is $5.3 million AAV and if it goes to $6.5 million, that will be an absolute steal for the Hurricanes.
To be able to keep one of the most elite defensive defensemen under $9 million per season was already a steal, but under $7 million is more than a team-friendly deal. The now two-time Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner will more than likely finish his career in Carolina. It shows true character that Slavin wants to stay in Carolina for his entire career after getting drafted 120th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. Furthermore, taking that type of money will give the team more flexibility. Give Slavin a ton of credit for putting the team first and staying to finish his career where he got drafted instead of asking for something between $9 and $10 million per season if he went anywhere else. This solidifies the person that he is and he would be a Hurricanes player for life. When it’s all said and done, Slavin will have his number 74 retired and in the rafters of PNC Arena when he calls it a career.
Cam Abbott Named Wolves Head Coach
The latest news to come from the Hurricanes is that they named Cam Abbott the next head coach for the Chicago Wolves of their AHL affiliate. The 40-year-old Sarnia, Ontario native has spent the last six seasons (2017-23) as the head coach of Rogle BK in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). During his time with Rogle BK, Abbott was named the 2021-22 SHL Coach of the Year after the team finished first in the SHL regular-season standings. On top of that, they went on to win the Champions Hockey League for the first time in team history. Furthermore, Abbott guided Rogle BK to a second-place regular-season finish during the 2020-21 SHL season and an appearance in the SHL Final. He also served as head coach of the Vaxjo Lakers’ under-20 team from 2016-17 before joining Rogle BK as their head coach.
Assistant general manager Darren Yorke was in charge of finding the next head coach of the Wolves. After the announcement of Abbott as the next bench boss, he stated, “We’re thrilled to welcome Cam to our organization. He brings a long history of excellence in developing NHL stars. Cam’s meticulous attention to detail, clear communication and ability to inspire and motivate his teams to achieve success make him the perfect fit for our organization.”
Former players at Rogle BK who are now in NHL organizations range from Rasmus Sandin of the Washington Capitals to Marco Kasper and Moritz Seider of the Detroit Red Wings and Nils Hoglander of the Vancouver Canucks. Abbott has an excellent track record when it comes to developing players and the Hurricanes have certainly picked a great one in him. Adding him behind the bench will secure that future Hurricanes players like Jackson Blake, Bradly Nadeau, Scott Morrow (possibly), and others will be in great hands with a former winner of the SHL.
Final Thoughts
The third week of June has certainly been busy for the Hurricanes since naming Tulsky as permanent GM and hiring Abbott as the next head coach in Chicago. Things will only continue to ramp up as there are only 11 days until the re-sign and free agency period starts along with only being eight days until the start of the NHL Draft. There is a ton to do for the Hurricanes but they seem to be in good hands with Tulsky at the helm and Yorke dealing with all the things going on in Chicago. It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks, but it will be fun to watch as before we know it, the 2024-25 NHL season will be upon us.
