James Nichols
The New Jersey Devils’ decision to swipe Sunny Mehta out from under the Toronto Maple Leafs is looking like outright highway robbery after the Leafs settled for John Chayka as their new general manager on Monday.
Mehta was a leading candidate for the GM position in Toronto before the Devils promptly fired Tom Fitzgerald and reeled in his successor just 10 days later.
The shrewd move by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) forced Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) to pivot, which led them to Chayka as their 19th GM in history and Mats Sundin as a Senior Executive Advisor, Hockey Operations.
The initial announcement shocked the hockey world.
Chayka—a man who hasn’t worked in the NHL since he was suspended by Gary Bettmann five years ago for pursuing new opportunities around the league despite having three years remaining on his contract—comes with a controversial background.
Ironically, he was in talks with the same ownership group that hired Mehta when they had interst in Chayka back in 2021.
It’s safe to say that was a learning experience for HBSE.
Chayka’s hire is drawing heavy critcism to Toronto. One claim say’s the Maple Leafs aren’t operating like a serious hockey team.
That conclusion was drawn as the Maple Leafs are going into one of the most crucial offseasons in their franchises history-similarly to the Devils—and could only come up with a manager who has been absent from an NHL front office for the last five years, and a fan favorite with no front office experience.
Then there’s the allegations coming from Toronto media
“I’ve been in contact with about 20 people who work in NHL, many of whom are prominent names that we’d all know,” Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun said to Keith Pelley. “Of them, one was supportive and the other 19 thought it was a sham. Words were used like con artist, liar, and salesman.”
To that claim, Pelley could only answer with having “talked to different people,” while pointing to a thorough process.
Suffice to say, the Maple Leafs’ new direction is a puzzling one.
Granted, reports were the Devils had interest in Chayka as well, but sources indicate that interest didn’t materialize into anything more than that, and were drawn from Chayka’s previous history with HBSE.
Thus, Toronto lands on Chayka who doesn’t have much to hang his hat in his first managerial tenure with the Arizona Coyotes. And it certainly feels like the Sundin hire is partially to help win over the hearts of doubters with nostalgia that comes with the Hall-of-Famer.
Whereas the Devils went in a different direction. Sure, it’s true that Mehta is a good fit because he was previously in the Devils’ organization.
However, Mehta’s resume—which landed him the Devils GM gig—is what has universally landed HBSE an A-grade in terms of the hire.
He helped build the Devils’ hockey analytics department, uncovered Jesper Bratt deep in the 2016 NHL Draft, moved to the Washington Capitals—and also helped build their analytics department—all before becoming employed by the Florida Panthers and going on to help them win two Stanley Cups.
Certainly, Chayka—the CEO of JKC Capital, a family-run business which reportedly owns 50 Wendy’s franchises and five Tim Hortons franchises in Ontario and Quebec—has plenty of runway to prove us all wrong.
However, as it stands, the Devils appear to be the adults in the room with a home run hire, while the Maple Leafs fanned the flames in Toronto despite the intention of stopping the burn.
