On the latest 32 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman provided some updates on the Leafs’ executive search, which appears to be nearing its end with Sundin-Chayka as the probable outcome.
Friedman on the rival GM the Leafs sought permission to speak to
Friedman: James Mirtle had a line about Toronto being turned down after asking to speak to a current General Manager. I believe that was Julien BriseBois of the Tampa Bay Lightning. I don’t think anyone is shocked here that the Lightning would say no. That’s that. I do think they asked for permission to speak to him, and they were rejected.
Friedman on the latest on Chayka-Sundin
Friedman: Everyone listening to this knows what I’ve reported over the past couple of days. I think they’re working on a Mats Sundin-John Chayka combination. It is a matter of Sundin agreeing to a contract and to what they have planned for him.
At the beginning, I do think everyone was kind of like, “Let’s bring you back into the organization.” It evolved into, “We want you to have a bigger role.” I think everybody had to understand each other’s expectations for what this was going to be about.
Last I heard, on Thursday, there was still confidence that this was moving in a proper direction, but again, nothing is done until it is done.
Friedman on the reports resurfacing about Chayka’s time in Arizona
Friedman: There has been a lot of reporting over the past couple of days on this. I’ve been working on a lot of it myself.
The biggest questions I have been asking… I have a lot of notes from Chayka’s time in Arizona, and what people said back then. I’ve been wanting to go back to some of those people and say, “Okay, this is what was then. How do you think it is different 10 years later? Have your opinions softened or changed? Do you believe this has a chance to be different?”
I think the biggest thing is that there is a reason why 26-year-olds are not hired to run these kinds of companies. You don’t have the life experience to do them. You are unprepared to manage people who are a lot older and more experienced than you.
I’ve seen people argue about good moves, bad moves, or other things he did. It was a gong show of an organization. We know that.
Managing people is important. That is one of the things I’ve tried to spend time making calls about, just to see, with a bit more time and a bit more experience, if some of the people who had issues back then feel he could be better now.
I’m working through that at this point in time, and I’ll present my findings, but also I want to speak to him. I’ve reached out to him. I haven’t been able to talk to him yet. He has been ducking all interview requests. But the questions that get raised, I would like to ask him about them myself, see what he has to say, and judge those answers.
In the criticisms of the pool of candidates the Leafs settled on, it’s probably been unfairly assumed that the initial shortlist of candidates the Leafs devised didn’t include some heavy hitters they wanted to try to speak to, but had no control over getting the opportunity to even interview. Julien BriseBois certainly fits that category, and the Leafs apparently tried. Jim Nill would be another one on this level, too. Worth a shot, but fat chance you’re even getting in earshot of them. The Leafs have piles of money and the allure of “what if you ever won it all in Toronto…” but it’d be unfair to expect MLSE to work miracles when it comes to extricating under-contract executives from places they have no desire to leave, with permission granted from teams that have no plans to lose them anytime soon.
Still, there is a big difference between simply expecting the Leafs to somehow entice away one of the top under-contract executives in the sport, and then landing on Mats Sundin and John Chayka as the guys — someone with no management experience, and someone with five years of experience five years ago, who left with a tarnished reputation and no on-ice results to speak of. It’s one thing to give Chayka the benefit of the doubt regarding the chaotic ownership situation in Arizona while pointing to his intellect, ability to evolve (given his extremely young age at the time), and his business acumen. Even if you’re open to those arguments, though, it’s certainly tough optics to then pair someone with Chayka’s resume with a second hire in Sundin who — while largely beloved in Toronto and a good fit to join the organization in some capacity — has no experience at all managing hockey teams.
No, maybe you aren’t getting Julien BriseBois, but there are promising AGMs available for hire who are in the weeds helping drive winning programs currently, and there are some experienced POHO candidates available. It can’t be emphasized enough that this is not a “learn as you go” type of job facing whoever the successful candidate(s) is/are. The organization is at a precarious inflection point and needs competent leadership ready to hit the ground running.
Instead, the Leafs seemingly can’t get out of their own way once again, and the people who have Pelley’s ear in this entire process has become highly questionable. Sure, maybe it proves to be a match made in heaven, Chayka has evolved and is ready to take the league by storm now, and this all turns into an outside-the-box stroke of genius. But if this proceeds as reported, it will be a tough, tough sell for Keith Pelley, who would be staking his entire legacy in Toronto on it.
