COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Don Waddell surprised many in the Carolina Hurricanes organization last May when he announced, only a day after the Hurricanes were bounced from the second round of the playoffs, that he was resigning as president and general manager.
The rest of the hockey world learned of his decision about a week later, a major shake-up for one of the most consistently competitive franchises in the NHL in recent seasons.
"I'd been there 10 years, six as the president and general manager," said Waddell, now general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets. "It was a lot, beyond the day-to-day operation of the hockey club, plus an expansion project (with PNC Arena) and other projects.
"I made the decision way before the end of the season that it was time for me to move on. It was just time to find the next chapter in my life. I was very much a personal feeling. Probably a lot of things went into it, but I just felt it was time."
As the guy who ran both the business side and on-ice product, Waddell had long-established relationships all over the Hurricanes organization. So it will be a mini-reunion on Saturday when the Blue Jackets host Carolina in Nationwide Arena, and a much bigger get-back-together when the Jackets play in Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 15.
"Any time you're with a team for 10 years, you've got a lot of friends there, a lot of ties to the organization," Waddell said. "The coaching staff, the trainers, the players, everybody in the office ... I had a big staff there, and there are a lot of good friends I've stayed in touch with.
"They're a very good team. I think they have, what, three losses? I just want (the Blue Jackets) to play hard and play our best and hopefully we win the game."
Saturday's game also marks the return to Columbus of forward Jack Roslovic, who, after 3 1/2 seasons in Columbus, was traded to the New York Rangers at the deadline last season. He signed with Carolina as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Roslovic, who is second on the Hurricanes with 10 goals in only 18 games, will almost certainly get a first-period "welcome back" video on the scoreboard.
Waddell will have to wait until next month for his greeting in Raleigh, but Saturday is a testament to the status he's achieved as an NHL executive. He's now been a president and general manager of three franchises, including the expansion Atlanta Thrashers, who moved to Winnipeg in 2011.
The Hurricanes could never get over the hump to reach the Stanley Cup Final during Waddell's run, but there were significant successes. What stands out?
"When I went there initially as president (2014), our attendance was among the worst in the league," Waddell said. "When I left, we were selling out every night.
"When Rod (Brind'Amour) and I took over (the roster) -- he as the coach and me as the general manager -- we had missed the playoffs in nine straight years. We then made the playoffs six years in a row. From where we started and where it ended up -- and they're still going, obviously -- I feel good about that. I think I left them in a good spot."
On May 16, Carolina lost Game 6 to the New York Rangers, ending their second-round series. The next day, a Friday, Waddell told Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon that he was stepping down, even though he didn't have any future plans in place.
"I had no idea, really, what was going on around the league," Waddell said. "We were in playoff mode, just going day by day and pretty focused on what was in front of us.
"I didn't know what Columbus was doing (with their GM search). I had permission on Sunday to talk with other teams, and I found out they were still looking. They asked me to come in and talk to them."
Waddell had developed a two-decade friendship with Blue Jackets president of business operations Mike Priest, who was running the Jackets' GM search. He immediately shot to the top of Priest's list of candidates, and a drawn-out process started moving forward quickly. He was hired on May 29.
Priest and Waddell had been friends for more than two decades after meeting at the NHL board of governors meetings in the early 2000s, when they were both trying to get expansion franchises off the ground in non-traditional hockey markets.
That relationship with Priest was a big draw, Waddell said. So was the Blue Jackets' young talent, especially at forward. But he was also delighted with the way the franchise operates internally.
Under Dundon, the Hurricanes are known to be run more collaboratively than most pro sports franchises. That's probably a nice way of putting it. There's a perception that the office staff can't order paper clips or printer ink without some level of discussion.
"A lot was done by committee," Waddell said. "At the end of the day, though, I can honestly say, there's nothing that I wanted to do ... for the most part ... nothing major ... that we couldn't get done.
"But you had a lot of ... how should I put this? ... there were always a lot of questions about anything you wanted to do."
It's hard to argue with the Hurricanes' results. They've won division titles in three of the last four years, and they currently lead the Metropolitan Division.
But Waddell seems refreshed by the setup in Columbus.
"My day-to-day contact is Mike Priest," he said. "I keep him updated on anything that's going on, and he's been very supportive. Anything we've wanted to do -- whether it's picking guys up off waivers, signing guys as free agents -- he's been very supportive. I'm a firm believer that ownership has the right to know what's going on before they read about it.
"I'd say this about Carolina and now in Columbus, though. It's not the Don Waddell show. We have a lot of really good hockey people here in this organization who have big roles with us. Big decisions have to be made, and you want people around you whose opinions you trust. I had that there, and I have that here."
Waddell has been watching closely every aspect of the Blue Jackets organization. He has his coach in place after hiring Dean Evason a month into his Columbus tenure. Now, as his first season unfolds, he's watching the roster closely, admiring the young talent and trying to figure out which veterans will be part of the mix going forward.
This may take some time, but that's not because Waddell plans to slow-roll it. To the contrary.
"I like a lot of the young guys," Waddell said. "We hope they continue to grow. It's an important year for them to keep maturing, not only as players but as people. If they do that, we're in pretty good shape for the future.
"Saying that, we're going to have to add some more pieces next summer; we know that. Going into next summer, we're going to have lots of cap space. We're not going to waste it, we're going to spend it wisely. We've already started talking about what areas we need to identify."
Waddell wasn't out of work long, but he believes he's landed well. He's knee-deep in another project, trying to get the Blue Jackets to achieve the same sustained success as the Hurricanes, but perhaps with more postseason success.
"I was really excited by the opportunity here right from the moment I heard from the Blue Jackets, honestly," Waddell said. "And it's been everything I'd hoped and more. The city is great. The fans have been great. The players have played hard almost every night.
"We've been through some stuff, some rough patches (on the ice). But I really love it here. It's been a perfect fit."