Dave Litman
The names have been on everyone’s lips around Leafs Nation the past few weeks. From a franchise icon to an upstart analytics nerd. It sounds like the duo of Mats Sundin and John Chayka will make up the new Toronto Maple Leafs hockey operations department.
Insider Elliotte Friedman revealed the news on his 32 Thoughts podcast on Wednesday morning. It’s going to be a Sundin/Chayka front office, once the final details get hammered out. And it all starts with the large role that Sundin will be taking on. That is contrary to earlier reports that the Leafs legend was merely going to be a ‘figurehead’ or hold an ‘advisory role.’
I believe there was a lot of misdirection about what the Maple leafs were asking Mats Sundin to consider.
My theory…should this happen…is he’s gonna be the Vice President of Hockey Operations. It took some convincing, but I think they’re now actually negotiating with him to do it.
The main impetus, of course, is that Sundin, effectively, bleeds Blue & White. He could restore some of the lost luster to the battered Maple Leafs brand.
“If you look at Sundin, it’s very clear he’s proud to be a Maple Leaf,” Friedman said. “He loves the team. He loves the organization. He’s come back several times and spoken up in defense of the players and just talked about how much of a privilege it is to wear that jersey and represent the organization.”
Given that their current captain, Matthews, isn’t quite the rah-rah type, and still hasn’t committed beyond the two years left on his deal, having a franchise icon at the top could go a long way to re-establishing respect around the franchise.
John Chayka would be Leafs new GM in proposed new front office
The other half of this two-pronged attack would be the hiring of the young, analytic-minded Chayka. Now 36, he signed on ten years ago to be the youngest GM in NHL history when he took over the Arizona Coyotes at the age of 26.
After four years, however, Chayka resigned in 2020. He was suspended by the NHL for a year for “conduct detrimental to the league.” It was due to his pursuit of other opportunities while under contract with the Coyotes.
Also on his resume, however, is something that is music to MLSE president Keith Pelley’s ears. Chayka established a hockey analytics firm that tracks data through an intensive video analysis process. Pelley stated at his year-end address to the media that he was looking to bring in someone ‘data-centric’. It has become more and more clear that he believes areas like analytics and A.I. have been underused in the Leafs front office. Under Chayka, that would drastically change.
For now, nothing is done yet, as Friedman tells us, and there could still be a wrench thrown into the works.
“If Sundin does get the job, I think it’s gonna be Chayka. Now, if something happens here and it doesn’t occur, I don’t know where this is all gonna go. I don’t know what the backup plan is.”
