'We didn't hire ChatGPT to be the GM:' The Eric Tulsky Era Begins in Carolina
The Carolina Hurricanes are starting a new chapter as Eric Tulsky was named the new general manager on Tuesday.
Tulsky, who has been with the organization for a decade, brings with him a background of analytics, data and high-level executive management.
On Wednesday, Tulsky spoke with the media for his first availability as the new GM. Here's what he had to say:
Opening Statement: I really want to express my gratitude to Tom [Dundon] for the opportunity to move into this role. It's an incredible organization and it's an honor to be trusted to lead it. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my predecessors and coworkers who have helped put me in position to do this. From Ron [Francis] to Don [Waddell] to Rod [Brind'Amour] and Darren [Yorke] and others. I really wouldn't be where I am without their help. This is a complicated offseason, I think we all know that. There's a lot of free agents, and we're gonna have to work to be creative on solutions to keep the team moving forwards.
On his current priority list: I don't really want to comment on individual negotiations. This is 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. So we are in the process of talking to agents and working through deals and trying to figure out how things will work. We have a lot of truly outstanding players and people and we probably aren't gonna be able to keep all of them and that's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt us on the ice and it's gonna hurt us in the locker room. At the same time, that does open up opportunity for some of the players we have to step into bigger roles on the ice and in the locker room. I think we have players who are capable of that. I also think we've shown that we can be creative in finding solutions to keep the team moving forwards and that will be part of our job as management group. To find ways to work around the challenges we have.
On if he foresees analytics taking on an even bigger role in running the team now that he's GM: No, honestly, I don't think this represents a huge shift for our organization. We didn't hire ChatGPT to be the GM. There are things that an NHL career brings. Certain experiences that people who played in the league have that are an advantage to them. There are experiences outside of playing in the league that can be an advantage too. There are 10 other general managers in the league who never played in the NHL, and four others who don't even have an EliteProspects page. So it's not like a hockey career is a prerequisite for doing this job. It's ultimately an executive leadership position and my corporate career brought me a lot of training in how to lead an organization in organizational dynamics, in mentoring, in managing an organizational process. Those are the things you need to put people in positions to succeed and to help make sure the organization is making good decisions. We're gonna continue doing that just as we always have with the input of Rod and the coaching staff. With the input of the other people in management and that's ultimately not going to change.
On the potential of bringing Alexander Nikishin to North America: I don't have any updates on that at this time.
On if he thinks the team will let a few of the UFAs test the market and then hopefully circle back: Again, I don't want to get into individual negotiations. I think we don't want to have people get to July 1, if we can help it, but sometimes players need to know what else is out there. Right? So if they feel like they need to know, we can't force them to sign early. So sometimes that will happen. At this time, it's only two weeks away but two weeks is an eternity. So right now it's really hard to forecast how it's gonna go.
On if he foresees any significant changes in processes or approach now that he's in charge: There'll be some small tweaks to some internal processes. Some things where I think we can be a little bit crisper about how we execute on some of the things we want to do. But our big picture organizational strategy isn't changing. There may be elements of the way we execute that strategy that change a little bit. But as a whole, as an organization, it's really important to us that we have the coaching staffs involvement in all of our decisions. It's really important that everyone in our management team and all of our scouts feel like they have a voice and contribute to the conversation. And ultimately, the job of the leader is to bring all those voices together and integrate the information that they provide, and help the organization make a decision and that's how we've always operated and that's not going to change.
On the vacancies left by his promotion: We do need to make at least one hire. We have not yet fleshed out our hiring plan so I don't have details for you right now about how that's gonna work, but we will need to add our front office.
On his meteoric rise from blogging to now being the GM: [I would have thought if someone had told me that] like there's no way, right. Like, I didn't get into this thinking it was going to be a job. A month or two before it became my job, it hadn't even really occurred to me that it could be a job. So just getting into the NHL by that route was way off the radar. Something I was not even thinking about. And then even from there, going from an entry level position to a general manager position was not a normal path. Not something I expected to have happen. But look, it's been 10 years and that's a long time. I know people look at the background and think of that as an outsider role. It was an outsider entry point. But after 10 years with the organization, I've learned a lot about how things operate and it's hard not to feel like I'm an insider now after all this time.
On how he feels his background helps him in his new role: There are two things I think that really translate. One is in all of those positions as well as this one, my job was to take in information and make decisions. And whether that information is spectroscopic data on a chemical reaction or a scouting report on a game played in Ottawa on a Tuesday, it's still information and it's still my job to integrate it with all the other information we have and figure out what to do about it. The other thing that I really took from all that work that I think people might not read on a resume, is how important the people are. The chemistry teams that I worked on were very successful, because we were very good at identifying people who could fill a role and putting them in a position to succeed and giving them everything they needed to be successful. And I think that's an essential part of a leadership position and part of what I hope to bring to this job.
On the collaborative nature of the organization: Yep, we work very closely together. I I don't think a single decision gets made without at least three people having input and sometimes 10. As a management staff, are job is to understand what Rod wants to see his team have, how he wants to see the team constructed and what he thinks it needs. And it's our job to go look for those pieces and bring him options and talk to him about which ones we think fit best and find out what he thinks fits best. Every person on the staff has a role to play in making those decisions.
On if he has any update on the team's AHL coaching search: I don't at this time. We are working through a staffing plan. We are getting close to filling out a stuff there but I don't have an update for you today.
On how his hockey knowledge grown over the past 10 years: I've grown a ton in that time and that's partly about understanding what happens on the ice and it's also partly just understanding how a team operates. There's a lot that you can't see from the outside about what each person does and how those pieces fit together and why we need them doing what they're doing and what makes somebody good at it. And spending a decade on the inside, I've seen a lot of those pieces and have come to understand how it all works together and I wouldn't be where I am without that.
On if he'll still play a part in the utilization of analytics: Yeah, it's still part of my role. Like I said, we still haven't finished our staffing plan yet, so I can't say for sure if there will be someone else who has that as a primary job or what that will look like, but of course as a general manager, my job is to help bridge any interaction. That's one where I happen to bring knowledge to the table but no matter who it is that we're talking about, whether it's a scout or a coach or a development coach, it'll be part of my job to make sure the information is being relayed and communicated and understood and used in the best way possible.
On coming into the role with outside expectations being so high: Look, it's a challenge, right? This organization has been consistently excellent for several years now. Over the last four years, only one team has more points in the regular season. We have six straight years winning at least one series in the postseason. And that's been outstanding for us. At the same time, nobody is satisfied with that. Nobody goes into the business dreaming of having a lot of regular season points and winning a round or two. So the goal is to find ways to keep getting better. And the good news for us is we are well positioned to keep taking steps. Under Darren [Yorke's] leadership, the scouting group and the development staff have found and nurtured some outstanding prospects who can keep raising the bar for us. And it's the management groups job to integrate those players, work with the coaching staff to make sure they're put in good positions and continue finding other players to supplement them using trade and free agency in any other routes we have to keep building the team. Ultimately we just need to keep taking steps forwards.
On his relationship with team owner Tom Dundon: I work closely with Tom. He does call a lot. Look, he feels strongly that there needs to be good processes in place and he wants to make sure he understands 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 a certain way and looking for ways to do them better. And that's a skill set that is incredibly important in this role. So I value his input a lot. It's been extraordinarily helpful.
On what happens when theirs disagreements in the decision-making process: There's always disagreement. If we have a decision where every person in the organization agrees, we don't need to have a conversation. The decision's already made. So the goal of somebody in this position is to foster those disagreements and make sure people feel comfortable expressing the counter views and drag their reasoning out of them and make sure everybody hears that reasoning and thinks about it and integrate both the pro and con positions on any decision to figure out what the best course is. But ultimately, that conflict is good. It's part of what you want. You need everybody to express their views and work through them. And that's what leads to buy in in the group decision ultimately. That they know that everybody understood where they were coming from, and that they were part of the group that still reached this decision and beyond.