John Chayka and Mats Sundin are reportedly set to become the new leaders of the Maple Leafs

Félix Forget
John Chayka and Mats Sundin are reportedly set to become the new leaders of the Maple Leafs
Credit: André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images

A few weeks ago, the Maple Leafs let Brad Treliving go. The club's general manager did not survive the Leafs' disastrous season.

And he ultimately took the fall so the Leafs could begin the hiring process sooner.

And now, it appears the club has finally made its decision: it is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to announce two new hires to lead the club's hockey operations.

John Chayka and Mats Sundin are expected to become the club's new leaders. That's according to a report by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun.

The exact structure remains to be determined, but the two are expected to take the reins of the team.

These two hires would be quite unusual for Toronto, given that the team isn't relying on experienced executives who have already achieved success elsewhere. Sundin has never held an executive position… while Chayka did so with the Coyotes when the club wasn't exactly setting the world on fire.

We do know, however, that Chayka is a big fan of advanced statistics… and that was the profile Toronto was looking for.

And in fact, we know that such hires can work. In Montreal, for example, Kent Hughes and Martin St-Louis had no experience in their roles, and they've been quite successful since taking office.

Except that the Canadiens, for their part, added Jeff Gorton—an experienced executive who had a ton of success before arriving in town—to their group. That's a difference that's far from negligible.

So we'll see how it all plays out, but expect to see Chayka and Sundin take the helm of the Maple Leafs. Let's see if they'll be able to get the team back on track.


In a nutshell

– One to watch.

– Jonas Brodin will miss the start of the series against the Avalanche. Joel Eriksson Ek is a question mark.

– Impressive.

– I love it!

– Well done.

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