Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
The 15th Ranked GM – Don Waddell (Carolina Hurricanes)
Don Waddell has been the general manager for the Carolina Hurricanes since March of 2018. He transitioned into the role after spending seven years as the organization’s President. Waddell had a lot of experience before joining Carolina because he had the chance to work for the Detroit Red Wings as their Assistant General Manager and held various roles with the Atlanta Thrashers. Those included being their President, Head Coach, and GM of the franchise. While there is a lot that can be drawn on from Waddell’s time with the Thrashers we will only focus on his work with the Canes.
The Good – Waddell’s first offseason was excellent. He managed to acquire a bunch of new players, which included Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, Petr Mrazek, Calvin De Haan, and Jordan Martinook. Thanks to his smart decision making, he was named a finalist for the GM of the Year Award in 2019. Ultimately, Don Sweeney with the Bruins captured the prize.
The Bad – Carolina was in a tough spot with Hamilton this past season. He was clearly a very valuable member of the roster but he was also a pending unrestricted free-agent. One of Waddell’s most important moves during the season would have been to extend Hamilton’s contract. Instead, it was reported that both parties were far apart in their negotiations before they finally broke off. It now looks like the Hurricanes could lose the defenseman this summer with no return.
The Ugly – It’s only a coincidence that Hamilton is linked to all of Waddell’s good, bad, and ugly decisions. A part of the deal that brought Hamilton to the Canes and sent Noah Hanifin to the Flames was the inclusion of Aaron Fox.
As previously detailed, it looked as though Fox wasn’t going to sign with Calgary so they used him to help sweeten the pot in a five-player deal. Unfortunately for Waddell and the Hurricanes, they too couldn’t get Fox to agree to play for their organization. Waddell ended up trading Fox ten month later to the Rangers for a pair of draft picks, nowhere near the worth of the 2021 Norris Trophy Winner.
Those draft picks were used to select Mads Sogaard in 2019 and Noel Gunler in 2020. It’s too early to tell whether those players will develop into valuable pieces for the Canes but it’s very unlikely they’ll ever be on Fox’s level.