Assessing Don Waddell stepping down as Carolina Hurricanes GM/President
[Music] on a Friday does is this considered a news dump by the uh Carolina Hurricanes I mean it’s not 5:00 yet so I guess no Don wadell I mean it was the Panthers mean it’ll be at 6:30 tonight holiday weekend Friday the GM resigns on Friday Don wadell out as one of the decision makers for the Carolina Hurricanes just yesterday we said on this show that change is scary for the canes this off season it was my number one her a concern my number one concern was change is scary and then it didn’t take two hours after I got home last night for the the interwebs to start hinting that Don wadell was interviewing somewhere else and uh don Waddell’s contract was up and he had been given the opportunity to go seek other uh uh other opportunities and then of course today the news breaks Don wadell moving on resigning from his post with the Carolina Hurricanes that shakes things up and yes changes scary but let’s first give credit where credit is due 10 years ago and again six years ago Don wadell was the right guy for the Carolina Hurricanes right and and he’s been working on the business side for a long time and and he took on additional responsibilities that is a a person who if the canes go on to do the things that we think they can do right if they this core goes on to achieve big and lofty goals you will not be able to tell the story of how they got there without bringing up Don wadell and how he ran the program and and decisions he made has he hit on every decision no right I’m sure some of you are going but he made the trade and a Vincent tro Che and yes made a ton of great moves didn’t hit on every decision but it’s a percentages game when you’re running a front office can you be right significantly more often than you’re wrong can can you take the right chances and and he has done a really good job of playing those percentages why did this happen why is Don wadell out because you know I mean a lot of the trust in the program over the last six years has been as people grew to trust Don wadell you know Bastion AO wasn’t one of his selections as GM but he’s the guy that locked him up to a long-term deal right a lot of the draft picks he’s been a part of you look at the Seth Jarvis’s like there’s there’s a lot that he did that went went very very right for the canes so why couldn’t this work well there’s there’s two sides actually three sides to every story right you the the the cliche is there’s three sides to every story your side my side and the truth so if you were to go ask Don wadell why aren’t you the GM of the Carolina Hurricanes he’d have a story for you I’m sure if you were to go ask Tom Dundon the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes why is Don wadell no longer the GM of the Carolina Hurricanes he’d have a story for you as well the truth probably somewhere between those two is there a number that Don wadell would have stuck around for I’m sure there is some would say everybody has a number is there a situation a power uh some kind of um relocation of powers meaning taking some things off his plate or even adding more responsibility in certain ways maybe but if I’m if I’m Tom Dundon right I’m putting myself in the owner’s chair here I think there’s some writing on the wall that says it’s time for a new voice right you just locked up uh Rod brendor to a five-year extension so you know that’s stable you know there’s at least one through line from the build up to this point right from the the dold droms that you were in to the build maybe not the penthouse but on the way that you’re in now you have the through line into the future maybe you didn’t maybe you’re not pleased with with you know no Stanley Cup finals appearances and you’re saying you know I use this all the time but the the Webster dictionary for Insanity right doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results maybe you felt like running wadell and Rod brind Moore together for the next five years is like we just did five years with those guys and and and as awesome as it was as thankful as we are I want better I want more I want to be a little greedy there is and I use this example also and it’s not exactly Apples to Apples because it’s GM and Coach but but it’s just the perfect example Mark Jackson was the the the coach of the Warriors that took them from kind of the scrap Heap to oh look at this Steph Curry and Klay Thompson might be the best shooting back court of all time I’m old enough to remember when Mark Jackson said Steph Curry and Klay Thompson were the best back shooting back court of all time and he got laughed at and then he was let go they moved on from him brought in Steve cerr and then two years later everyone was like oh look at that Mark Jackson was right is the best shooting back court of all time they go on to win a bunch of championships I don’t think Steve cerr wins all those championships with without Mark Jackson is there a Steve cerr GM equivalent out there for the canes that can say yeah I won the Championships but Don wadell put a lot of the pieces together I I did the finishing touches right the person that gets past the pickle jar yeah but you loosened it like is there somebody that can open the jar and or ready for this open the cup and then they look back and go yeah Don wadell loosened it for me that’s what you’re looking for I think that’s the goal of and that’s how you end up here whomever takes over is in a pretty good spot let’s be honest like the the franchise in terms of where the farm system was the quality of players on the roster back in 2018 when when Don took over far and away so much better now than what it was like whomever is walking into this whether it’s a promotion with Eric tolsky who’s the interim or they bring in someone from the outside is in a pretty damn good spot Don wadell and this might end up being his legacy with the canes he passes the elementary school test you know what the elementary school test is what’s up anytime you go somewhere you leave it better than you found it oh yeah right anytime you’re there with a bunch of kids all right everybody clean up if piece of trash is that’s not yours pick it up anyway let’s leave it cleaner than when we found it Don wadell showed up to the the Carolina Hurricanes right 10 years ago which 2014 was the best time for the Carolina Hurricanes and he leaves now having three straight 50 win Seasons having a a very well-respected coach locked up for five more years Sebastian noo on a long-term deal some flexibility with good options on what you do moving forward a strong farm system minor league system prospects across the the the world uh not a purged uh draft Capital right it’s not like oh the next we have a good team now but the next six years we have no pitch it’s not that he is leaving the canes in a much better place than he found the canes do they think they can go somewhere else or do does he think he can go somewhere else and have a different kind of success maybe do the canes think they can get one more level of success with someone else maybe but that doesn’t take away anything that that’s been built that doesn’t take away any of the good decisions that led them here because you know as much as I do kind of keep you know I’m always an advocate especially in in athletics for the goal keeps Rising right you want to make the playoffs once you make the playoffs you want to win a series Once you win a series you want to get back to the playoffs the next year then once you get back to the playoffs you want to make it further once you’re one of the best teams in the regular season you want to win a cup right like there’s always another level when things come to an end when when relationships come to an end when Employments come to an end when eras come to an end you can look back and and remin for a second right free agency doesn’t open up for a little bit uh drafts not for a little bit if you want to take 20 minutes and go you know what we achieved some pretty cool things that’s fair right it it doesn’t have to be a a angry or bitter divorce it can be a hey we came a long way together and maybe we both see opportunities in other places right now but they’ll never take away the the accomplishments that we we achieve he did a damn good job and then you look at at rod and say good luck in every game except for the one I’m playing against you cuz that’s how compe competition works and you move on and the same thing right if he wants he interviewed for the Columbus job if he ends up up there with the Blue Jackets you look at him and say darn near every game we’re going to be pulling for you there’s one very specific opponent we will be hoping you lose every single game and that’s us and and and you move on with a laugh and and a see you later
Carolina Hurricanes President/GM announced he is stepping down from his role, though his contract was set to expire. Tim Donnelly & Dennis Cox wonder if this is a good thing for Hurricanes in the long run, if time had just ran it’s course for Waddell and owner Tom Dundon, but also how Waddell left the organization in good hands.
The Drive with Tim Donnelly on 99.9 The Fan from 3pm to 6pm ET in Raleigh, NC.
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1 comment
Interesting… 🤔