The Carolina Hurricanes are looking for a new general manager, but so far their search hasn’t produced any results. Why has it been so hard for the Hurricanes to find a new GM? It may be due to the reported low salary the team is offering.

Shortly after the Hurricanes announced they were suspending their search for a GM, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Nick Kypreos reported that the team wants to remove their search from the public eye and may be trying to low-ball interested candidates.

Kypreos:

“Apparently Carolina is not showing the money. I’m told in the ballpark of $400,000 a year, that’s where that job will start, and there’s just no way that they can attract good hockey people, credible people, experienced people, to take that salary.”

The quote above should be another reminder that the world of sports, and the salaries that go with it, aren’t based in reality. That being said, the $400,000 offer does sound pretty low considering most NHL coaches are making considerably more. Though GM salaries aren’t reported to the public, it’s believed that the average GM salary several years ago was around $1.5 million to $2 million. That makes the reported $400,000 salary look pretty insulting.

There is a possibility that the Hurricanes will turn the vacancy into a “lesser role” that wouldn’t have full authority over the roster decisions being made. That, combined with a salary that trails behind the rest of the league, should scare off any interested candidates.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes sound like they’re tired of the media talking about their GM hunt.

Friedman:

“What Carolina has done is decided to go underground here. They talked yesterday internally, decided they didn’t like how much of this was public and while they’re saying that their GM search has been suspended, I don’t necessarily believe that’s the case. They will continue to go at this but they want to do it quieter.”

One of these days the Hurricanes will make more headlines for their play on the ice than they do for some their bizarre actions off of it.