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Hurricanes hire Don Waddell as new team president

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Don Waddell

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The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t make a big splash during the first day of the unrestricted free agent period, but they did change things up on the management side of things.

Don Waddell has been hired to serve as the president of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, which is the parent company of the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s perhaps best known for his lengthy tenure as the general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers, which spanned from 1998, when the team was still getting ready for their debut campaign, until 2010.

Atlanta made the playoffs once during his tenure and the team played just one season in the post-Waddell era before moving to Winnipeg. Waddell joined the Pittsburgh Penguins’ organization as a scout in 2012.

Jim Rutherford previously served as the team president, but he left the organization to become the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins shortly after he handed the Hurricanes GM reins to Ron Francis.

Peter Karmanos Jr. specified that Waddell will be handling the business side of the Hurricanes.

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