The most unassuming GM in the NHL just made the boldest move in years
Admit it, you were thinking it when Eric Tulsky was named General Manager last summer.
“This guy is so…unassuming. He’s the nerd behind their analytics-driven mindset, but it’s completely different when you’re in the big chair. How can we expect him to stare down another NHL GM and have the stones to make a move we need when we had one of the most experienced men leading this team for so long?”
Tulsky has been a name that folks deep in the NHL have loved for a long time. Writers who have embraced analytics have been hoping he would get his shot to break up the old boys’ club that was the position across the league. Sure it’s one thing to embrace analytics, but when it’s time to actually put up or shut up, NHL owners have stuck with the tried-and-true to lead their organizations. Look at this list of General Managers and there’s a lot of familiar names that just move from org to org. This includes three former Hurricanes leaders in Rutherford, Francis, and Waddell.
There’s a type when it comes this person. They’ve played hockey, they “know” hockey, they’ve lived it and breathed it their whole lives. They eat, sleep, breath, and just have hockey so in their blood that it’s the only thing they wanted to do.
Tulsky isn’t that. He went to school for chemistry and got a doctorate in it, holds numerous patents, and was just someone who had a mind for numbers and loved the sport. Make no mistake, though, he earned the right to be a general manager. He’s been writing and consulting about hockey for nearly fifteen years, and has been with the Hurricanes for a decade. He started during the dark times and just rose through the ranks, working under both the Francis and Waddell regimes. He was an assistant GM in 2021. For him this wasn’t about what he lived and breathed, but where his passion was.
Still, Tulsky has become an avatar for folks in the analytics movement and to say they were happy when he got the gig is an understatement.
Thus we all sat and waited as the season unfolded and what sort of General Manager that Tulsky would make. We were skeptical when Jake Guentzel moved on to Tampa, and further skeptical when the signings the team did make weren’t exactly A-list players. We then looked on in amazement as guys like Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic made an immediate impact and the Canes sprinted to a good start. He had earned one level of trust in that he could spot underutilized players that would fit the Canes’ system. He then earned another level of trust when he got the Seth Jarvis deal signed by ingeniously using deferred money to get to where Seth’s side wanted, and getting Jarvis’ side to agree to it.
Perhaps the biggest sign as just how much of a sign of what Tulsky would be as a GM was during Frederick Andersen’s injury and the Canes went through a slump while Pyotr Kochetkov had to shoulder the main load. He was interviewed in the broadcast booth during this and in his dispassionate voice noted that trying to get a goalie now would be tantamount to being extorted. Such strong language meant some GM’s had tried to bully him into some moves and he wasn’t budging.
That builds the confidence that when a move is going to be made, it’ll be one that at least makes sense for both sides. As the recent weeks passed and rumors circulated that the Canes were in on trading for Vancouver’s JT Miller, it showed that he was aware that something else was needed to get this team beyond where they had been the last few seasons.
What he managed to pull off this weekend, though, is nothing short of amazing. No one had an idea this was coming. Even insiders who had hinted that Colorado was coming close to a cut bait date with Rantanen didn’t really link Carolina to a deal. There were whispers that Tulsky was active and would do something, but the level of stunned that the rest of the league reacted with once the move was made showed just how skilled he was at pulling this off.
Even when the first details slipped out, it was the Taylor Hall portion and not the bigger part. Somehow a club that has no problem speaking to insiders and letting them in on what they are doing kept everyone in the dark on the biggest NHL trade in decades. It was smart and bold. There’s risk involved, and yet neither Colorado nor Carolina can look at the deal as if either party fleeced the other.
In one bold move Tulsky has shown that he will take risks but you better come with a real deal. He’s got the smarts to use other teams and make a bold move a reality. He’s shown that you don’t need to be born in bred in “hockey culture” just to effectively lead an organization.
That’s ultimately the thing. Yes, this move is validation for the nerds, but it’s validation for fans as well. Anyone who is a fan of a team stuck in a rut can now effectively advocate for someone outside hockey culture to come in and shake things up. Yes, they need experience—but they can have the perspective of success and failure in another area that could provide valuable insight into resurrecting a squad.
By all accounts this is a victory for the good guys and those who think hockey needs a break from the same. All it took was a nerd to lead it.