Carolina Hurricanes' GM Eric Tulsky cites need to be creative in 'complicated' offseason

“I don’t really want to comment on individual negotiations,” Tulsky said. “It’s a stressful time for the players. They’re not sure what they’re going to be doing next year or what their future looks like and I don’t want to add to that stress for them.

“We are in the process of talking to agents and working through deals and trying to figure out how things will work. We have truly a lot of outstanding players and people and we’re probably not going to be able to keep all of them, and that’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt us on the ice and hurt us in the locker room.”

Tulsky said any departures would open up “opportunity for some of the players we have to step into bigger roles on the ice and in the locker room.”

Tulsky said he would work closely with his staff and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour in making personnel decisions, saying. “I don’t think a single decision gets made without at least three people having input and sometimes 10.”

One of those people is Dundon, who took over the team in January 2018 and soon named Brind’Amour the head coach.

Waddell, who resigned May 24 as president and GM, liked to quip about all calls and texts he received daily from Dundon, a hands-on owner. He jokingly alluded to them again when named president of hockey operations and GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, saying he still was receiving a few calls from his former boss.

From all accounts, Tulsky has Dundon’s full trust and respect. And Tulsky smiled Wednesday when the phone calls were mentioned.

“I work closely with Tom and he does call a lot,” Tulsky said. “Look, he feels strongly that there need to be good processes in place. and he wants to understand how we’re making decisions, and he will give feedback on those processes.

“I’ve learned a lot from him. He’s very good at questioning why things are being done in certain ways, and looking for ways to do them better. I value his input a lot. It has been extraordinarily helpful.”

Of note

The Canes’ prospects development camp likely will be held July 7-10, with the first on-ice sessions July 8. ... Tulsky said he had no update on the situation involving KHL defenseman Alexander Nikishin, whom the Canes drafted in 2020. ... Tulsky said no decision had been made on a new coach for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

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