Confirmed with Link: Francis out as GM - Don Waddell named GM 5/8/18

[Navin R Slavin]

Yeh, not trying to look at this in a negative way, but I wonder how much Waddell had of TD's ear in this whole process? Just makes me think if he gets the GM job.

*If* he gets the GM job?

He *is* the GM.

And yes, he had Dundon's ear 100%.

 

[cptjeff]

Many people thought Jim Rutherford was a terrible general manager, but with an owner willing to spend and star talent on the team, he could be earning his 3rd straight ring this year.

I'm just saying, don't put too much value on how someone like Waddell did in his previous roles. If Dundon fully trusts him, and is willing to spend to allow him to see out his plans, we could be in a good spot. The groundwork for how good Winnipeg is now was laid when Waddell was GM in Atlanta, and that was with ownership who was openly antagonistic towards the team.

I've been saying that about JR for years, though it was pretty hard to break into the hatefest towards the end. As "horrible" a GM as he was, he got the same or better results than Francis did given essentially the same constraints. He excelled at finding undervalued players and giving them a chance to reinvent themselves- it didn't always work, for sure, but it often enough did, and it kept us in the hunt on a pretty significant financial disadvantage. Now that he has all the budget in the world, he's built a juggernaut that keeps getting better somehow.

He had his weaknesses, sure. Drafts were certainly one of them for a very long time, but our drafting had already started turning the corner under JR, so there was more at play there than just him. JR was and is a good GM- it's just that our ownership was shit.

 

[Svechhammer]

These two lines sum it up perfectly so far.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

I feel like there's a story to be had here. One which people will recall reading for decades and decades to come.

 

[cptjeff]

i swear if these idiots **** it up and don't take cam fowler... :

I mean, Cam Fowler would have been an excellent pick, and would have gone a very long way towards fixing our defensive issues a lot earlier than they got fixed. I love Skinner as much as any fan of this team, but Skinner and Fowler are roughly comparable talents, and he would gone much further towards fixing a desperate need.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

History of hockey trades by general manager Don Waddell - NHL Trade Tracker

Don Waddell deserved the bad rep he got for heading an organization that just drafted horrendously outside of the 1st round, thus setting the stage for the departures of Hossa, Kovalchuk and perhaps Savard. However, he shouldn’t be treated as if he’s Peter Chiarelli when it comes to trade activity. The only WTF move he made is giving up on Coburn for a 34 year old Zhitnik. Otherwise, it’s pretty average. With the benefit of hindsight, the Robidas trade looks bad. On the flip side, the Savard trade looks ingenious. The Kozlov trade was a coup. There was only so much he could do with Hossa and Kovalchuk as impending UFAs. He got good value for trading down twice at the 2005 draft; the pick itself was a bust (Bourret), however.

Speaking of the draft, Waddell didn’t shy from trading down, doing it 7 times as a GM, mostly outside of the 1st round. He also was willing to move a current pick for a better potential future pick and vice versa, doing that 3 times. Waddell traded up once by my count. It’s a different era, so I’m not sure if this is necessarily applicable. Still, it’s something to keep an eye on.

 

[The Faulker 27]

I'm not sure how to feel about everything. I'm not really upset by any of it, just mildly dazed and confused. Waddell and Dudley both have some bad things on their resumes, but some good stuff too, and a ton of experience. I would have preferred the up and coming route, but maybe stability and being on the same page will prove more important. I do think Waddell appears to have mostly done a good job for us in his role, so I guess good on him for parlaying that into something bigger.

I'm a fan of getting rid of the status quo at this point, and as I've said before, this has already been the most entertaining offseason I can remember in a long time, and only figures to be moreso.

The winds of change have finally reached our doorstep. The #2 pick really does change so much about the outlook even if it doesn't in and of itself mean we'll get to the playoffs. I'd be 100% ok with Velluci as the coach. Now, do NOT hire Brind'Amour as the HC, find somewhere to stash Darling, and I'll be happy enough camper.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

I'm pretty sure I'm on Scott Cullen's shit list after arguing with him about Francis' firing.

 

[Ole Gil]

I've been saying that about JR for years, though it was pretty hard to break into the hatefest towards the end. As "horrible" a GM as he was, he got the same or better results than Francis did given essentially the same constraints. He excelled at finding undervalued players and giving them a chance to reinvent themselves- it didn't always work, for sure, but it often enough did, and it kept us in the hunt on a pretty significant financial disadvantage. Now that he has all the budget in the world, he's built a juggernaut that keeps getting better somehow.

He had his weaknesses, sure. Drafts were certainly one of them for a very long time, but our drafting had already started turning the corner under JR, so there was more at play there than just him. JR was and is a good GM- it's just that our ownership was ****.

JR's teams were regularly getting derailed by injuries, too. They had a few seasons where if they had just okay health, they'd have been in. Like 12-13, when they looked great, then they lost Pitkanen and Ward, and Faulk for 10 games, and a bunch of other key players for 6-15 or so.

A big strike against Francis/Peters era, is how shockingly healthy the team has been, and they still didn't really come close to the playoffs.

 

[vorbis]

here's a direct link to a 27 minute mp3 of Dudley's conference call with media people.
http://downloads.hurricanes.nhl.com/audio1718/dudley050118.mp3

several insightful bits there, including but not limited to:
Dudley was focused on the amateur side with Montreal, sounds like he'll have more contact with the pro side in Carolina.
sounds like he's already done quite a bit of work looking at the top of this particular draft.
that said, he didn't want to get into specifics about what his actual role is, because as he says, he doesn't exactly know yet.
sounds like Don Waddell was pretty much the driving force to hire him.
very excited about the top of the draft, mentions top 3 lottery winners will get a dimensional talent.
likes a lot of the pieces in Carolina, noted that he kept finding "20 year olds" with real talent, pieces to work with.
suggested a few issues to work out, roster-wise. says some of the answers may already be in the organization.
seems to be very fond of NC, and that that was part of the motivation to make this move.

so yeah, Waddell still has considerable move-making power in the organization, and I'm on board with the assumption that he'll be the official GM at some point, unless something else comes down the pipe.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

here's a direct link to a 27 minute mp3 of Dudley's conference call with media people.
http://downloads.hurricanes.nhl.com/audio1718/dudley050118.mp3

several insightful bits there, including but not limited to:
Dudley was focused on the amateur side with Montreal, sounds like he'll have more contact with the pro side in Carolina.
sounds like he's already done quite a bit of work looking at the top of this particular draft.
that said, he didn't want to get into specifics about what his actual role is, because as he says, he doesn't exactly know yet.
sounds like Don Waddell was pretty much the driving force to hire him.
very excited about the top of the draft, mentions top 3 lottery winners will get a dimensional talent.
likes a lot of the pieces in Carolina, noted that he kept finding "20 year olds" with real talent, pieces to work with.
suggested a few issues to work out, roster-wise. says some of the answers may already be in the organization.
seems to be very fond of NC, and that that was part of the motivation to make this move.

so yeah, Waddell still has considerable move-making power in the organization, and I'm on board with the assumption that he'll be the official GM at some point, unless something else comes down the pipe.

I'm still fearful he'll bring in guys from Montreal when that amateur scouting staff gets cleared out. The Habs are arguably the worst drafting team of the 2010s. Whereas the Canes were able to find the likes of Slavin, Pesce, Aho, Faulk, Rask and McGinn outside of the 1st round, all the Habs have to show for 8 years worth of non-1st round picks is Gallagher and potentially Lehkonen and Mete. Their drafting in the 1st hasn’t made up for it, either. The Habs have perhaps the bleakest future in the NHL for a reason.

 

[Unsustainable]

Ruff and Torts has a history with Dudley

 

[CheMxDawG]

I'm still fearful he'll bring in guys from Montreal when that amateur scouting staff gets cleared out. The Habs are arguably the worst drafting team of the 2010s. Whereas the Canes were able to find the likes of Slavin, Pesce, Aho, Faulk, Rask and McGinn outside of the 1st round, all the Habs have to show for 8 years worth of non-1st round picks is Gallagher and potentially Lehkonen and Mete. Their drafting in the 1st hasn’t made up for it, either. The Habs have perhaps the bleakest future in the NHL for a reason.

Perhaps they suck at drafting because their main concern with anything related to hockey is whether or not you're from Quebec or how well you can speak French.

 

[My Special Purpose]

Could this whole thing be about Ilya Kovalchuk? Hire Dudley/Waddell, draft Svechnikov, sign Kovalchuk. Profit?

They were doing this exact same thing with Ray Whitney (and I'm sure others). Whitney was paid to attend Phoenix games and send in reports on Western Conference teams. Not sure how common this setup is - it could be fairly regular for NHL teams. Maybe Nieuwendyk had a big hand in bringing in Darling?

I think it's awesome that the one thing this organization appeared to do exceptionally well was to scout the conference they played ~30 percent of their games against.

Dudley has a huge history with John Torchetti, you've been warned.

Still not dazzled, but I guess we're heading in the right direction. It seems weird that we're almost intentionally not hiring the two most important positions with the club.

As an aside, my dad would have been *thrilled* with this hire. He's been a fan of Dudley's for his entire career and hoped the Canes would give him a shot. Alas, my dad passed away a few years back. Hopefully, he got the news and is smiling.

 

[bluedevil58]

Could this whole thing be about Ilya Kovalchuk? Hire Dudley/Waddell, draft Svechnikov, sign Kovalchuk. Profit?



I think it's awesome that the one thing this organization appeared to do exceptionally well was to scout the conference they played ~30 percent of their games against.

Dudley has a huge history with John Torchetti, you've been warned.

Still not dazzled, but I guess we're heading in the right direction. It seems weird that we're almost intentionally not hiring the two most important positions with the club.

As an aside, my dad would have been *thrilled* with this hire. He's been a fan of Dudley's for his entire career and hoped the Canes would give him a shot. Alas, my dad passed away a few years back. Hopefully, he got the news and is smiling.

Solid point! Sorry for your loss by the way. I too watched a lot of games and went to a lot of games with my dad.

 

[Cane mutiny]

I'm pretty sure I'm on Scott Cullen's **** list after arguing with him about Francis' firing.

U'l survive. I'm from NJ...**** list is my middle name.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Ruff and Torts has a history with Dudley

Everybody has a history with Dudley.

 

[garnetpalmetto]

Everyone's favorite ex-Cane, Jeff O'Neill is hitting the airwaves again.

Hockey Night in Hartford

You know what's pathetic when, like - people in the industry they understand once they get a general manager job how difficult it is. And there's only 31 of them and they generally stay around for a long tenure. You know it's bad when people are declining. Some general managers went down there and they said "I want to pay you around whatever it is" - $200 grand, $300 grand. Like, if you're a GM, you're thinking 'Some other GMs that aren't winning are making $2-$3 million. Why in the hell would I come here for $300 grand?' It's embarrassing. It seems like they're morphing into the Cleveland Browns of the NHL. It' s a goddamned embarrassment. I'm embarrassed to be an alumni of the Carolina Hurricanes for what's going on.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

Everyone's favorite ex-Cane, Jeff O'Neill is hitting the airwaves again.

Hockey Night in Hartford

Don't worry, Jeff. We're embarrassed that you're an alumnus too.

 

[Svechhammer]

Everyone's favorite ex-Cane, Jeff O'Neill is hitting the airwaves again.

Hockey Night in Hartford

Someone's drunk again

 

[GoldiFox]

Go down to Lucky B's when a Canes event (like alumni game) is in town and ask the guys what they think of Jeff O'Neill. I've never heard an ex-player so universally despised.

 

[Riverfront]

Ron Francis rolling his eyes on the golf course, to classy of a person to talk to the media and let them know what exactly is going on
with Carolina. Wish he could have one interview with Elliot Friedman and let everyone know about an owner that doesn't have a
clue about anything hockey related but he will take the advise of Mike Liut who gave him advise as a player. Take the high road.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

It's interesting that Francis hasn't (to my knowledge) made a single public statement since the "promotion", despite multiple attempts from the media (local or otherwise) to get a word from him. Meanwhile Dundon has repeated said that he believes the whole situation between him and RF is "amicable".

 

[SlavinAway]

Ron Francis rolling his eyes on the golf course, to classy of a person to talk to the media and let them know what exactly is going on
with Carolina. Wish he could have one interview with Elliot Friedman and let everyone know about an owner that doesn't have a
clue about anything hockey related but he will take the advise of Mike Liut who gave him advise as a player. Take the high road.

It's a moot point. If RF wants the team to go a different way he needs to go find $1B and he can do it his way all day long....

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

It's a moot point. If RF wants the team to go a different way he needs to go find $1B and he can do it his way all day long....

It's also a mute point since Francis isn't talking.

 

[The Faulker 27]

Talking has never been RF's thing. I've barely seen him crack a smile.