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John Chayka, new Maple Leafs GM

Breaking news, as the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired John Chayka as the general manager and Mats Sundin as a senior advisor.

David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period broke the news on social media that the Maple Leafs have hired Chayka as the team’s new GM and Sundin as a Sr. Advisor.

“Maple Leafs have hired John Chayka as GM. Mats Sundin joins club as a Sr Advisor,” Pagnotta wrote on X.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet backed up the report, saying the Maple Leafs are officially set to hire Sundin as Senior Executive Advisor, Hockey Operations, with Chayka coming aboard as the team’s new GM. The team will issue the official statement later today, and will have a news conference on Monday for the media to ask questions.

Sundin and Chayka Have Been Rumored to Get Hired

The Maple Leafs held a long interviewing period where they hired a law firm to help conduct their search for the team’s new management positions. After missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the team fired former GM Brad Treliving and immediately went to work on finding the team’s next leadership group. There were many names connected to the search, but ultimately, the team settled on hiring a combination of Chayka and Sundin.

A Hockey Hall of Famer, Sundin is one of the greatest Maple Leafs of all time, starring for the team from 1994 to 2007 and being the team captain for many of those years. He has been living in his native Sweden since retiring from his playing career, but he is returning to Toronto to be the team’s senior advisor. Sundin is 55 years old and has no previous NHL management experience, but he is greatly respected among the league and among fans, so he will be a great addition to the Maple Leafs’ front office.

As for Chayka, he was just 26 years old when he was first hired as the GM of the Arizona Coyotes in 2016. However, he had a very inconsistent tenure as the team’s general manager, and ultimately stepped down from the role in 2020 after several hockey-related controversies in which he was involved. Still, he is only 36 years old now, and the hope is that he has learned from his mistakes. MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley made it known that the Maple Leafs wanted someone analytics savvy as the team’s GM, so Chayka fits that description well as one of the first hockey people to really crunch the numbers when it comes to team building and roster construction.

Chayka, Sundin Have Big Decisions to Make

After missing the playoffs this past season, the Maple Leafs have big decisions to make this offseason.

The first is the status of head coach Craig Berube. He is still under team contract for two more years, but after missing the playoffs, Berube may get fired by the team’s new management if they have another coaching hire in mind, such as Stanley Cup-winning head coach Bruce Cassidy.

The second is getting captain Auston Matthews back on board after another failed season for the team. Matthews has two years left on his contract, so the team must convince him of their long-term vision with their new leadership group.

The third is making moves in their defense core. The Maple Leafs were one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL this year, so they have to fix things on the backend. That could involve asking longtime defender Morgan Rielly to potentially waive his no-move clause and be traded.

Otherwise, the Maple Leafs have plenty of holes throughout their roster that need to be filled. The good news is that the team has lots of money to play with in free agency this year. With just two months to go until free agency begins this summer, Chayka and Sundin will have to get their ducks in order quickly if they are going to help turn this team around and get it back into playoff form next season.

The first step towards success would be if the Maple Leafs are somehow able to get lucky and win the NHL Draft Lottery, which takes place on Tuesday. If the Maple Leafs win the first overall pick and take Gavin McKenna, it could be exactly what the doctor ordered to turn this organization around.