The Toronto Maple Leafs chose Monday, May 4, as the day to introduce the hockey world to their revamped, new-look front office. Just over a month after they fired Brad Treliving, Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment head honcho Keith Pelley announced that the franchise has hired John Chayka as general manager, and franchise legend Mats Sundin as senior executive advisor.
Opinion was already split on Chayka, whose tenure with the Arizona Coyotes did not exactly end well. And if anyone expected this press conference to be a run-of-the-mill event, they were left thoroughly entertained.
Maple Leafs GM John Chayka’s Unveiling Goes Sideways
Toronto Sun journalist Steve Simmons took his seat for the Leafs’ press conference and clearly had a question locked and loaded for MLSE boss Keith Pelley.
Simmons told Pelley that he had spoken to about 20 big names in the NHL executive circle, and only one of them was supportive of Chayka’s hire. “The other 19 thought it was a sham, to be perfectly honest. Words were used like ‘con artist, liar, salesman,'” Simmons said.
Pelley did not appear completely fazed by the question, answering, “I must’ve talked to different people. We’ve conducted due diligence, and it was deep due diligence. It was a thorough process and I’m quite happy with where we’ve landed.”
That little soundbite was more than enough to grab eyeballs.
Hockey content creator Mike Bartner wrote on X,”I am actually CRYING at this, holy s**t. Steve Simmons still got his fastball.”
Daily Faceoff’s Jonny Lazarus wrote, “Not sure I’ve heard a question like this in an introductory presser before. Excellent theater.”
What Chaos Show’s Pete Blackburn had an even simpler, but equally stunned reaction: “Holy f**king s**t lmao.” Barstool Sports’ Mike Grinnell pointed out, “This is insane. I may take back every mean thing I’ve ever said about Steve Simmons.”
NHL Already Keeping a Close Eye on Leafs GM Chayka
It turns out it didn’t take all that long for the NHL to have a conversation with the Maple Leafs after they hired Chayka.
Per NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the league already took notice of a tampering concern related to Chayka fleshing out his managerial team in Toronto. While the league investigated it, their judgment was that those were “unsubstantiated claims,” which means Toronto can breathe a sigh of relief.
The incident, however, just goes on to show that Chayka has his work cut out for him in the league’s noisiest market. Toronto’s new general manager expressed confidence in the team’s core consisted of Auston Matthews and William Nylander, though the new front office team is yet to sit down with its two stars.
“I think it’s incumbent upon us to put the best team on the ice that we can. It’s gonna take a high hit rate, it’s gonna take some creativity. We’re gonna have to have some things go our way, but we certainly feel like we’re well-positioned with a core group,” Chayka said.
The Leafs have also scheduled a meeting with head coach Craig Berube, though it appears no decision has been taken on his future just yet.
