The Toronto Maple Leafs announced on Sunday that John Chayka is set to become the Toronto Maple Leafs 19th general manager in the franchise's history.
Chayka has not been in the NHL since his tenure with the Arizona Coyotes lasted four seasons between 2016 and 2020. At the time of Chayka's tenure with the Coyotes, he was just 26 years of age and the youngest general manager in the NHL. Now, 10 years later, the Maple Leafs are looking for a much more mature general manager. While his time with the Coyotes is leaving fans feeling uneasy, we are going to be looking back on the moves he made during his time in Arizona.
Why John Chayka's time in Arizona was cut short
The reasoning for Chayka's tenure with the Coyotes only lasting a brief four-year stint was that, in 2020, Chayka was suspended from the NHL for "engaging in conduct detrimental to the league, and breached his obligation to the club.” This included illegal scouting practices, which involved scouting prospects who were separate from the draft combine. The Coyotes in result of this, had their 2020 second-round pick and 2021 first-round pick taken away from them. With the Maple Leafs ready for a big offseason ahead of themselves, does Chayka have the prior history to be the right man for the position? Many are not sure of it.
Trades Chayka made during his time with the Coyotes
Chayka came into the Coyotes organization at a time when they had missed the playoffs four seasons in a row and had finished fourth in the Pacific Division each of those seasons. The Coyotes weren't bad enough for a top lottery pick; however, they weren't good enough to get to the next level and qualify for the playoffs.
The early portion of Chayka's time with the Coyotes was obvious; he was moving on from veteran players, trying to make the team younger, while acquiring draft picks. He moved on from players such as Alex Goligoski, Maxim Letunov, Joe Vitale, Michael Stone, Martin Hanzal, Mike Smith, and acquired Anthony DeAngelo, as well as lots of mid to late round picks.
Towards the middle to end of his time with the Coyotes, he very clearly attempted to make the team better and get them in a position where they are ready to contend.
With up-and-coming prospects such as Jakob Chychrun, Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton, Matias Maccelli, and Victor Soderstrom, he understood the rebuild had come to an end. He made several strong acquisitions, acquiring Nick Schmaltz, who still plays a key role with the organization. Taylor Hall, who had just won the Hart Memorial Trophy just one season prior, Phil Kessel, who played a number of good seasons with the Coyotes, Derek Stepan, who played a critical role in the Coyotes' lineup, and Darcy Kuemper to take over the net.
Questionable decisions made at a critical time
However, some of the moves in the midst of these ended up hurting the Coyotes from reaching the next level. Chayka traded solid depth centre Nick Cousins to the Montreal Canadiens for essentially nothing, Anthony Duclair to the Chicago Blackhawks for Richard Panik and Laurent Dauphin, Jordan Martinook to the Carolina Hurricanes, who has played a massive role within the Hurricanes' bottom six, and Max Domi, who can be an effective middle-six winger or centre.
Every general manager makes questionable decisions and mistakes that end up hurting the team in the long run, but when you look at the returns for some of these trades, it doesn't make sense with where the Coyotes are heading. It should also be noted that during his time in Arizona, Chayka did not make any massive free agent signings.
John Chayka comes to Toronto at a pivotal time, and over the next couple of weeks, beginning Monday with the team holding a press conference, it will be clear the direction in which he best sees fit with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.
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