Midseason Check-In With GM Eric Tulsky

RALEIGH, N.C. - With the Carolina Hurricanes reaching a three-week gap in their regular-season schedule for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, we sat down with General Manager Eric Tulsky to look at the team's first 57 games of the season.

Among the topics discussed were Brandon Bussi, the team's offseason acquisitions, and what's ahead as the team continues its quest toward a Stanley Cup.

The below is a transcription of Eric Tulsky's appearance on The Storm Report podcast. To listen to the episode, which was released on Feb. 4, click here.

As we arrive at the Winter Olympic break, let’s start by getting your thoughts on the season as a whole to this point…

Tulsky: "I think we're off to an incredible start. This is, I think, the most injured our team has been since the 2014-15 season, and we sit here tied for the lead in the conference, seven points up in the division. To fight through the injuries we've had and to come out as well as we have is an incredible situation."

Brandon Bussi’s remarkable start to his NHL career may be the story of the season thus far. What impresses you most about his time with your team so far?

Tulsky: "He's a great person, but in terms of on-ice play, I think he reads the game incredibly well. His ability to anticipate what's coming helps him sort of prepare for a lot of the opportunities that teams get against us sometimes. [He] puts himself in position to make some saves that would be hard for a lot of people to make."

We've heard Rod (Brind'Amour) talk about how he was someone the team had eyes on in summers past. That's got to feel good knowing that someone you have liked is not only having success, but doing so here.

Tulsky: "Yeah, he's someone who we've had eyes on for a long time. But I can't claim I knew this was coming. If I were that smart, I would have just signed him, and we wouldn't have waited to get him on waivers, but it is good to see that he's getting an opportunity and he's run with it."

While Bussi joined the team just before the season, two marquee pieces that you added this summer were K’Andre Miller and Nikolaj Ehlers. We often hear both you and Rod talk about fit when it comes to this team. How have the two of them fit through the first few months?

Tulsky: "Both of them have as a foundation that they're really great skaters. They're great in kind of a different way. K'Andre is really explosive. Nikolaj is really fast, but as incredible on his edges. Those are different skills that are important for different things. Nikolaj, when he wants to get to the middle, he can. He has an elusiveness that lets him get to space. He's great with the puck. He can make plays when he gets there. K'Andre's explosiveness lets him recover when he needs to. It lets him get into guys to close out. It just really fits the way we want defensemen to play. They always need to be up on guys and ready to close out when they need to."

We've seen both guys playing with different partners and lines already this season. Miller has had success with both Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker. Ehlers has looked good next to Sebastian Aho and produced with Jordan Martinook and Jordan Staal. I would think that you've also enjoyed the versatility that the two have brought as well, correct?

Tulsky: "Yeah. It's one of those things that's really valuable for the coaches - to be able to mix and match, depending on what the team needs this week, or what the opponent needs this night. That flexibility and versatility are really valued. It gives them opportunities to set the lineup in ways that will create problems for the other team and make it hard for them to create problems for us."

It’s the first full NHL season for Alexander Nikishin. Expectations can be dangerous. How has his play compared to what you thought he’d be adding?

Tulsky: "He's extremely talented. Of course, there's a learning curve for any new player, especially for someone making the jump that he's making. There have been things that have continued to refine in his game and he's just gotten better and better as the season's gone on. You can see he's getting more and more used to what we're asking defensemen to do. The talent, when the puck is on his stick, is always there. The ability to play a physical game is always there. The ability to do the little things sort of between those moments is coming along really nicely. You're just going to see him reach higher and higher levels, as he gets more comfortable with that."

For portions of this season, we’ve seen Nikishin with Shayne Gostisbehere. Despite missing a few chunks of time with injuries, Gostisbehere's been one of the most productive offensive defensemen in the game this season. From your purview, what makes him so elite with the puck?

Tulsky: "He's incredibly elusive and deceptive. He has an ability that not a lot of defensemen have, to sort of defy expectations and create opportunities that the defender didn't expect him to create. Whether that's a little shake at the blueline or a sudden burst of speed, or a pass to a guy at the side of the net who people weren't expecting him to pass to, he has the ability to make plays that I think aren't just the routine, simple play. He's looking for ways to create something that wasn't just handed to him."

We’re about a month from the NHL’s trade deadline. I know you discussed in your Q&A with Cory Lavalette you discussed that there’s no clear need right now, but we know you’re always trying to improve the team. With this roster freeze during the break, did the attempts at making moves heat up just before?

To read Tulsky's two-part Q&A with Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal, click here.

Tulsky: "This time of year, it's every day I'm on the phone. There are two things we need: We need players to be available, and we need the price to be something that we can do. I'm calling every day to see who is available and what the price is, and I'm trying to get it to where we something we can get done. You never know what's going to happen; it takes both sides. It's hard to control the market. But, we are shopping very aggressively, trying to find ways to bring in the pieces that will help us take steps forward."

Is that enjoyable or stressful?

Tulsky: "It's not stressful. I think the opportunity to look for ways to make the team better is fun. The challenge I have is that, as the team gets better and better, it gets harder and harder to find ways to get better. If we had four guys on the team who stunk, the trade deadline would be easy; you just replace those guys with average NHLers, and we're fine. When everyone on the team is already really good, it's hard to find those next steps. I use the line a lot about wanting to have the 20 best players in the world, but if you already have the 18 best players, it's really hard to get the other two. We're not quite there, obviously, but it does get harder and harder to find real upgrades as the team gets deeper and deeper and stronger and stronger."

What area do you believe the team can take the biggest step forward in the rest of the way?

Tulsky: "I think, over the first half of the year, between the injuries and the new people coming in, there have been times that our defending was not at the level that we're accustomed to. We've been giving up some premium, Grade A chances that, sometimes, teams are going to create those, and there's nothing you can do about it. But sometimes, we're sort of giving it up. You can't have that. We think there is room for us to tighten that up. Some of that comes as we get healthy. Obviously, Jaccob Slavin erases a lot of those. He's barely played for us over the first half of the year. I do think that we just naturally get better with him stepping into the lineup. I also think that we have a rookie, we have a defenseman who is new to the team. As those guys get more and more comfortable, they will more often be in a position to kill the play before it happens. Just overall, we've had a lot of flux. Like you said, we've had people playing with different players every night and getting used to what's expected and where the other guys are going to be. So, I expect to see that tighten up on its own, just naturally. Then, we're always looking for ways to bring in help too."

Now in your second year as a General Manager, what’s something you have learned since the start of your tenure that’s helped you navigate the position?

Tulsky: "I would say that, coming in, I knew a lot about our team. I'd done a lot of work on the roster. The role of managing an organization was something I'd done in other places, but I hadn't done it here. Getting accustomed to everything about, 'Hey, we have to manage our travel. We have to manage our hotels, we have to manage our equipment staff.' There's an ongoing list of things that need my attention, and I've gotten more and more comfortable with understanding what's expected, how to keep the ship running smoothly, how to make sure that no one has to think about anything expect what they're doing on the ice that night, because we have an organization that's just going to take care of everything else for them and they're in a position to play their best."