With the departure of Jim Rutherford this summer, the Carolina Hurricanes lost an awful lot of front office experience. On Wednesday the club took steps to replace some of that lost experience by hiring former Dallas Stars general manager and hall of fame forward Joe Nieuwendyk. He will join the Hurricanes in the capacity of pro scout and advisor.
Rookie Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis was explicit about what on Nieuwendyk's resume appealed to him:
"Joe brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our organization,” said Francis. “He will be based in Dallas, and will be a major asset to the Hurricanes in player evaluations."
In his time as the general manager for the Stars Nieuwendyk did some solid work - particularly in identifying talented, undrafted free agents like Brenden Dillon and Antoine Roussel. At the very least he laid the foundation for what current Stars general manager Jim Nill has augmented and significantly improved in his two years as the top executive in North Texas.
Nieuwendyk made one brutally lopsided trade though, and that deal hangs over and eclipses any and all of his other accomplishments. Granted, trading James Neal and Matt Niskanen for Alex Goligoski looked like a bad bet at the time and seems inexcusable with the benefit of hindsight.
Still, Nieuwendyk remains a smart hockey mind with years of management experience in the NHL. He was always going to get a second shot in a front office role and on Wednesday, the Carolina Hurricanes gave him that opportunity.
