Donald Douglas Waddell (born August 19, 1958) is American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is the president and general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Don Waddell | |||
---|---|---|---|
Born |
(1958-08-19) August 19, 1958 (age 64) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) | ||
Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
Position | Defense | ||
Shot | Left | ||
Played for |
Augsburger EV Los Angeles Kings | ||
National team |
![]() | ||
NHL Draft |
111th overall, 1978 Los Angeles Kings | ||
Playing career | 1980–1988 |
Waddell was selected 111th overall, in the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft. He was selected as the 3rd choice of the Los Angeles Kings on June 15, 1978. He played in the NHL for only one game with the Kings during the 1980–81 season, against the New York Rangers on January 28, 1981.
His playing career consisted mostly of minor and college hockey. He played 4 seasons at Northern Michigan University. He was one of the final cuts for the 1980 U.S. men's hockey team after he broke his leg in a pre-tournament game. He won the International Hockey League's Governor's Trophy in 1982 for best defenseman during the regular season.
After his tenure as a player, he moved to coaching for the 1987–88 season with the IHL Flint Spirits as a player-coach. For the next two seasons, he moved behind the bench permanently. Waddell moved on to the IHL San Diego Gulls for the 1991–92 season. Waddell took over as interim coach of the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2002–03 season with a record of 4–5–1–0 as coach before Bob Hartley was named to the permanent job.
After a disappointing start (0–6–0) to the 2007–08 Atlanta Thrashers season, Waddell was named interim head coach of the team following the dismissal of Bob Hartley.[1] For several months, he was able to lead the team on a turn around, but the Thrashers ultimately played poorly down the stretch and missed the playoffs.
Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | Result | ||
ATL | 2002–03 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | (74) | 3rd in Southeast | Missed playoffs |
ATL | 2007–08 | 76 | 34 | 34 | — | 8 | (76) | 4th in Southeast | Missed playoffs |
Total | 86 | 38 | 39 | 1 | 8 |
Waddell's first front office experience came with the International Hockey League's Flint Spirits during the 1988–89 season when he served in the dual role of head coach and general manager. He moved into Flint's front office exclusively for the 1989–90 season before joining the IHL's San Diego Gulls. He was vice president and general manager for the Gulls from 1990 to 1995 before accepting the same role with the IHL's Orlando Solar Bears. While in Orlando, Waddell was also vice president of RDV Sports and served on the organization's executive committee which oversaw the NBA's Orlando Magic, the Solar Bears and RDV Sports' retail and aviation interests.
After leaving Orlando, Waddell served as assistant general manager of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1997–98 season, capturing the Stanley Cup.
On June 23, 1998, just one week after the Red Wings swept the Washington Capitals in the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals, Waddell was named the first general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers. He served as general manager of the Thrashers until the conclusion of the 2009–10 season when he was promoted to team president, and Rick Dudley succeeded him as general manager.[2] During his tenure as general manager of the Thrashers, the team recorded a 308–401–45–66 record and made their lone playoff appearance after winning the NHL's Southeast Division in 2006–07. Waddell also served as executive vice president and co-chair of the executive committee for the Thrashers' parent company, Atlanta Spirit.
Following True North's purchase of the Thrashers, Waddell announced he would not be moving with the team from Atlanta to Winnipeg.
On January 21, 2012, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced their hiring of Waddell as a professional scout.[3]
Waddell was named President of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, on July 1, 2014. On May 8, 2018, Waddell was named president and general manager of the Hurricanes.[4] On February 24, 2020, Waddell was named the TSN TradeCentre GM of the Day, for his transactions at the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline.
Waddell has made a name for himself in his time as the Hurricanes' GM for consistently fleecing other teams in trades. The first major fleece he was a part of was trading struggling forward Viktor Rask in a 1-for-1 trade for Minnesota Wild winger Nino Niederreiter. Along with the trade for Niederreiter, Waddell also was involved in another major fleece when he sent Eetu Luostarinen, Erik Haula, Chase Priskie, and Lucas Wallmark to the Florida Panthers in exchange for center Vincent Trocheck. Waddell, in the 2022 offseason, sent Eetu Mäkiniemi and Steven Lorentz to the San Jose Sharks for Brent Burns and Lane Pederson. Waddell's most recent fleece was in the days after free agency opened in 2022, as he acquired Max Pacioretty and Dylan Coghlan for future considerations.
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
1975–76 | Detroit Little Caesars | GLJHL | 50 | 23 | 29 | 52 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1976–77 | Northern Michigan University | CCHA | 28 | 11 | 34 | 45 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1977–78 | Northern Michigan University | CCHA | 32 | 18 | 34 | 52 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1978–79 | Northern Michigan University | CCHA | 23 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1979–80 | Northern Michigan University | CCHA | 37 | 18 | 32 | 50 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1980–81 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1980–81 | Houston Apollos | CHL | 31 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1980–81 | Saginaw Gears | IHL | 40 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 33 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | ||
1981–82 | Saginaw Gears | IHL | 77 | 26 | 69 | 95 | 61 | 14 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 0 | ||
1982–83 | Saginaw Gears | IHL | 18 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1982–83 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
1983–84 | Augsburger EV | 1.GBun | 8 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1984–85 | Flint Generals | IHL | 35 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1984–85 | Toledo Goaldiggers | IHL | 42 | 10 | 31 | 41 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | ||
1985–86 | Toledo Goaldiggers | IHL | 63 | 19 | 50 | 69 | 113 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1985–86 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
1986–87 | Flint Spirits | IHL | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ||
1987–88 | New Haven Nighthawks | AHL | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
1987–88 | Flint Spirits | IHL | 71 | 17 | 58 | 75 | 61 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 6 | ||
NHL totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
IHL totals | 356 | 83 | 261 | 344 | 302 | 54 | 9 | 40 | 49 | 16 |
Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | United States | WJC | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 8 |
Award | Year | |
---|---|---|
All-CCHA First Team | 1977–78 1979–80 |
[5] |
IHL Governor's Trophy | 1981-82 | |
Awards and achievements | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | CCHA Player of the Year 1978 Shared with John Markell |
Succeeded by |
Sporting positions | ||
Preceded by Position created |
General manager of the Atlanta Thrashers 1999–2010 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by Curt Fraser Bob Hartley |
Head coach of the Atlanta Thrashers 2002–2003 2007–2008 |
Succeeded by Bob Hartley John Anderson |
Preceded by | General manager of the Carolina Hurricanes 2018–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
Team presidents of the National Hockey League | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
|
General managers of the National Hockey League | |
---|---|
Pacific |
|
Central |
|
Atlantic |
|
Metropolitan |
|
|