How Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky thought outside the box to build Stanley Cup champion
The Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions, and it’s in large part due to the unique approach that general manager Eric Tulsky brings to the team’s front office.
The analytics guru has surrounded himself with experienced hockey minds like Justin Williams, and other analytically-minded assistants with experience in front offices like Tyler Dellow.
He has also brought in scouts from less-traditional backgrounds without prior NHL experience like pro scout Ellen Etchingham, who, like Tulsky, was a former hockey blogger who blew the Hurricanes brain trust away during the hiring process.
On Wednesday’s episode of The Sheet, hosted by Jeff Marek, Tulsky stopped by to discuss the Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup run as well as the contributions of outside-the-box hires like Etchingham to build a championship front office.
Eric Tulsky: “We look for people who are thoughtful and creative and willing to take risks and able to communicate well, and we don’t really get hung up on their background. Sometimes a playing career can be an asset when you’re trying to move into scouting or development or whatever it is. But it’s not the only asset people have, and we’re willing to look at people outside that path, that pool of talent, to try to make sure we’re not missing anyone and make sure that we are giving opportunities to talented people regardless of their background.”
Jeff Marek: The one name that comes to mind when you say that… is Ellen Etchingham. How does Ellen Etchingham find her way to the scouting department of a Stanley Cup champion team?
Eric Tulsky: “So we knew we needed to hire a couple of scouts. And I’m always looking for people who might have the ability and might not have gotten a look otherwise. I actually reached out to her and asked if she was interested in going through our process. I had read her work. I knew she was a very strong communicator and felt like she had also shown an eye for the game. So the process we go through when we hire a scout, we have them write reports that somebody blinds for us. And so we had, eight or 10 or 12 people write a couple of reports. And five of us internally read through them, grade them, rank them, share our thoughts, and narrow it down to a short list. And her reports were as good as anyone’s. And then you start thinking, okay, this is someone who’s never written a scouting report before. And if the reports they’re doing now are already on par with people who’ve been doing it for a long time, who knows where the ceiling is? And she’s been great for us.”
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…