It feels like a long time ago, both in Tulsky’s life and the way data has changed hockey and the way hockey has changed because of data.
“I think in those 10 years,” Tulsky said, “the types of questions that data can answer have evolved and our ability to provide good answers in many areas and complete answers in other areas has they have really progressed.”
Welcome, too.
“I’ve been in Atlanta for 12 years and it wasn’t talked about from ’99 to 2011,” Waddell said. “You look at where our game is coming from, often [teams] having four or five people in the analytics department where you never thought about having an analytics department.
“I think there’s a lot of room to continue to grow because some of the tools that the NHL is going to use, with puck tracking and all the things that the NHL does and the things that the individual teams do, are they continue to grow.
“Analytics won’t drive your decisions, but they can certainly support what you see and what you think and certainly be a part of decision making.”
There is more understanding around the NHL about what data can provide, about how to incorporate it, about its benefits and limitations.
It has become, quite simply, part of the way business is done.
“In every industry, the first reaction of people who have been doing it all their lives without data is to say, ‘I’ve been doing it all my life without data and I’ve done it right. ,'” Tulsky said. “This is a very natural response, and it’s universal.”
But in his 10 years with the Hurricanes, with the evolution of the NHL, Tulsky has seen attitudes change, acceptance grow. He has seen appreciation for the way he solves the problems and challenges that hockey throws at him.
The Hurricanes have always been a collaborative organization, making sure that everyone’s voice has a place, that ideas are shared and valued. Waddell made sure, while Tulsky was with Hurricane, to guide him and try to help him grow in his thinking, how to deal with problems, and even more, how to find a solution.
He saw that Tulsky had what he needed. He saw how he controlled people, how those under him loved and respected him and his work, the behavior he brought to his work.
“What’s going on in our business, you’re faced with all kinds of different adversities and challenges,” Waddell said. “Some people can handle it and some people can’t handle it maybe all the time. And Eric is one of those people that you throw something at, he’s going to find out what the response is. .
“I think one of the things that has elevated him to this position is that being a GM, like most positions, is difficult at times because you have to make tough decisions, at times. other decisions, I always say, it’s not what the fans want to hear, not what anybody else wants to hear. But you make decisions based on what’s in the best interest of your hockey team and I think Eric you can do that.”
And then there was the extreme wisdom.
Waddell called Tulsky “probably the smartest person I’ve ever worked with. I used to say to him, ‘You told me before, now tell me in plain English what you just told me.'”
As Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin said, “He just outshines everybody in the room. He comes in and I think he knows he’s the smartest guy in the room, but he doesn’t push himself. that way.”
It’s enough that — not a former player or a former agent — he now manages Carolina.
“I just remember there was a certain feeling when I was following baseball so closely that this kind of calculator — this machine that didn’t understand people — but I think the best aspect of “Eric is that he’s super-empathetic and understands that it’s not just numbers, it’s people,” Yang said.
That’s why, when Waddell left the Hurricanes on May 24, and was hired as Columbus Blue Jackets GM four days later, Tulsky was promoted to interim GM before getting the full-time position in June.
“I’m 100 percent ready,” Tulsky said. “I’m lucky to have an amazing head coach (Rod Brind’Amour) and an amazing management staff, so there’s a lot of people there to make my job easier. There’s a lot of ways I don’t need to change. I just need to keep things the way they were.
“So, that’s very helpful for the first person. I’m not walking into a place that’s broken and needs a big change. I’m walking into a place that’s going well and needs a new person to help keep it on track. .”
However, when Tulsky got the job this offseason, he didn’t face a number of player contracts that needed to be completed — including those of forwards Martin Necas and Seth Jarvis, and the latter -have a unique payment structure that was down. his average annual salary from $ 7.9 million to $ 7.5 million in an eight-year contract – but almost 80 percent of the contracts of the staff of the Hurricanes had expired.
There wasn’t much time to rest.
There was also an assistant general manager position to fill.
And there, he returned to his old well, the group that had found Twitter in those early days, one of the first products of analytics products to hire back in 2014 and 2015. In addition to promoting Yorke from assistant GM to. At GM, Tulsky hired Dellow, who was the New Jersey Devils’ senior associate for hockey strategy and analytics, as the Hurricanes’ new assistant GM.
It just made sense.
“He’s a math guy first and makes us all look good,” Orach said of Tulsky. “He’s very considerate, he works hard, he’s a good man so you’re happy for him, and he’s just happy that he took the risk, that he took the gamble and, of course, that the Hurricanes put him on that gamble. and it just worked, it seems.
“You are very, very smart. And I wish he was in charge of my favorite NHL team.”
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