Confirmed with Link: Leafs hire Mats Sundin as Senior Advisor, John Chayka as GM

[Leaf Fans]

Mats was great here. There were always elements that tried to infer he was soft, a carry-over from the ridiculous chicken-Swede narratives of the 70’s, but he was a solid workhorse with a ton of talent. This market - at least parts of it - didn’t appreciate what they had in him then, just like they don’t appreciate what they have in Auston now.

I agree.

 

[crump]

 

[The Masters]

 

[seventieslord]

I agree.

...is it possible to fully agree about Mats and not about Auston?

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[sxvnert]

good.

 

[Gallagbi]

good.

Why

 

[1specter]

Well, if there's anything you can say about Chayka so far, it's that he isn't boring. A lot less indecisive than his predecessor

 

[sxvnert]

Chayka should hire Joe Pavelski as the next Marlies head coach. IIRC Grudens contract is up this summer.

 

[wallsailor]

Is there a Chayka Road in Toronto already, if not we should name one.

Chayka owns restaurants, right, we should eat there.

What else could we do to make him happy

 

[CapspaceKiller]

Glad to at least have someone in here that's aggressive. The team also made it easy for him to make changes given the way they played last year.

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I'm liking what I'm seeing so far.

He fired Berube and hired Hiller. Traded away one of.the excess goalies for cap space. Then acquired a legit 1RHD om a reasonable contract.

And he did it all in a matter of days.

Remember when Treliving had to take a year after getting hired to evaluate the team before doing anything. That was so frustrating because we all knew what the problems were and we expected his hiring meant they would be fixed. Instead we got treated to yet another re-run of the exact same losing formula we'd seen fail so many times already.

Chayka has been decisive in his actions amd executed them with admirable efficiency.

With the rapid succession of things happening so quickly Chayka also dispels the myth nobody would want to work with him. He's clearly been in contact with the rest of the league's GM's and they appear more than happy to speak with him. He's just hired a new head coach and snagged the top dedenseman on the markwt this year.

I think it's safe to say he had a plan and is executing it to perfection.

 

[ITM]

More importantly, in the interest of Rogers' growing emphasis on fiduciary responsibility, is the role being shut down?

 

[Martin Skoula]

The director of what now?

 

[ULF_55]

More importantly, in the interest of Rogers' growing emphasis on fiduciary responsibility, is the role being shut down?

Maybe the new Chief of Staff position got the money?

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Well, if there's anything you can say about Chayka so far, it's that he isn't boring. A lot less indecisive than his predecessor

Has exceeded expectations so far.

Simmons in Shambles.

Mainboards doing worse than Simmons

 

[The Masters]

still cookin

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Is it an island that starts with an R ?

 

[LeafGrief]

I have to admit to liking our off-season so far. 1OA is a huge windfall that will buy this front office more time than they should be given, but this Raddysh pickup is a great one IMO. If they can find a spot for Rielly that doesn’t cost us Marleau draft picks to move, then I’ll really tip my hat to them.

Of course, if they trade Knies I’m rioting.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Of course, if they trade Knies I’m rioting.

He needs to be kept for his likability as much as his on ice prowess.

Surely his jersey sales get the attention of Pelley.

Knies has to be a crazy good wingman for Nylander.

 

[francis246]

I have to admit to liking our off-season so far. 1OA is a huge windfall that will buy this front office more time than they should be given, but this Raddysh pickup is a great one IMO. If they can find a spot for Rielly that doesn’t cost us Marleau draft picks to move, then I’ll really tip my hat to them.

Of course, if they trade Knies I’m rioting.

Chayka said they aren’t going to trade Knies. It’s not probable

 

[francis246]

More importantly, in the interest of Rogers' growing emphasis on fiduciary responsibility, is the role being shut down?

The role I thought was good. It didn’t interfere with the hockey operations at all.

They provided opportunities for marginalized people to be introduced to hockey through different initiatives (thanks to Mark and his staff for hosting many of my students over the years). Was a great program. I don’t think it deserves to be shit on. Mark did a good job at helping the leafs connect to new fans, which is an important part of professional sports on the business ops side.

EDIT* - well I see they expanded his role to include player development. So I think removing that from hockey ops makes sense. But I hope they keep the community stuff. It was good

 

[Hellcat]

View attachment 1256356

Is it an island that starts with an R ?

Heard, St Louis is involved, the rumor is Toronto wants a 3 for 1 deal. The 1 being Rielly. Same source says that St Lou wants Knies/Rielly for the same package. Rumors , rumors, rumors....