MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley discussed the hiring of Mats Sundin and John Chayka into senior management positions with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Opening Statements
Pelley: We are here today, but we are coming off a heartbreaking loss last night for the Raptors in Cleveland. I can tell you that the Raptors were the youngest team in the NBA playoffs, and I think you will all agree that they played with tremendous, tremendous heart against Cleveland. The future is incredibly bright for the Toronto Raptors.
With yesterday’s announcement, I believe the future is incredibly bright for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
To our fans: You are among the best in the world. Your unwavering passion, loyalty, and continued support for the Toronto Maple Leafs are greatly appreciated.
The Maple Leafs, let alone a Stanley Cup, have not made it to the Conference Finals since 2002, when this young man (Mats Sundin) was the captain. That is 24 years — 24 long years. Quite honestly, that is not good enough. We understand Leafs Nation’s frustration.
That is why, during this comprehensive search, when we identified an opportunity to go in a different direction and bring two stellar, complementary hockey minds together in John and Mats, we jumped on it. We jumped on it.
During the process, we realized these two gentlemen had a long-standing relationship dating back to 2012 when they first met at the Memorial Cup in London. They’ve kept in touch. More importantly, the respect they have for each other, and the way they talked about each other, was palpable during the entire process.
There is no question that we believe this tandem will co-orchestrate a vision that aligns the organization from ownership right through to the dressing room.
Before I hand it over to John, I wanted to thank Neil Glasberg from the Coaches Agency. Neil was pivotal and integral in this entire process. I think we talked to 27 people. Neil facilitated everything. He didn’t have a vote, but he facilitated everything, and he was absolutely awesome in helping us get to where we are today.
Before I pass it over to John, I want to say to Mats: Thank you for moving your family here. It was a big decision. We are incredibly grateful that you made that move.
To John: You know how excited I am to introduce you right now.
Q&A
How would you describe why John Chayka is the right man for the job?
Pelley: We were incredibly impressed and encouraged by John’s vision that he shared with us during the process. We then conducted extensive due diligence that confirmed what we already believed about John’s capabilities. We are incredibly confident in where we landed. I remain impressed by John. I think you will as well.
One of the key characteristics that came through in the entire process: He is methodical and measured. The combination of John and Mats is really, really strong.
John mentioned that he remained in contact with everything going on in the league, but it is a full-time job to be a GM in the league. GMs will tell us that is all they do every moment of every day. Yet he had a full-time job. Is there a concern that there will be a window where he has to catch up to the other GMs who have been in and around the league since John has been away?
Pelley: There is no concern from my side.
But how about in terms of knowing the players in the league? John understands the business side of it, but how about his understanding of the players in the league?
Pelley: Still no concern from my side. He knows the players in the league.
You talked about the due diligence you’ve done on John Chayka prior to hiring him. In the past three or four days, [Steve Simmons] has been in contact with about 20 people who work in the NHL, many of whom are prominent names we’d all know. Of the 20 people, one was supportive of John’s hiring, and the other 19 thought it was a sham. Words like “con artist,” “liar,” and “salesman” were used. How did you come to a different conclusion?
Pelley: I must have talked to different people.
The hockey world today is astounded by this announcement.
Pelley: Okay.
What is your response to that?
Pelley: We’ve conducted due diligence, and it was deep due diligence. It was a thorough process, and I am quite happy with where we’ve landed.
Is it correct that neither Sundin nor Chayka has been given the title of President of Hockey Operations?
Pelley: John is the General Manager of Hockey Operations.
Which of them is senior, and how will the organization work? Who reports to you? Who makes the final decision?
Pelley: My role as CEO is to put the structure, process, and experts in place and then empower them to make the decisions.
At the time of the interviews, it was really fascinating; neither John nor Mats talked about titles at any time. They only talked about goals, and that is to win the Stanley Cup. In fact, I don’t even think Mats knew what his contract title was until he got the contract himself. I can tell you, unequivocally, that these two gentlemen are totally focused on one thing, and that is bringing the Stanley Cup to Toronto.
The way it will work: John is the General Manager of Hockey Operations. I think these two will work collaboratively on everything. Big decisions will obviously be collective, but at the end of the day, on a day-to-day basis, John is the General Manager of Hockey Operations, and Mats has a role within Hockey Operations. It will be something that will be completely collaborative throughout the entire process.
Can you explain why the sanctions the Coyotes faced, and the sanctions Chayka personally faced, weren’t red flags in his hiring?
Pelley: As I have already said, I did deep due diligence. I’ve read all of the reports. I’ve talked to numerous people — I won’t reveal who I talked to — who were close to the process. We’ve done extensive due diligence, and I am very comfortable and confident in where we’ve landed.
Could you describe the process by which Sundin was hired? Who called whom? How long did it take?
Pelley: It didn’t take long. The first conversation [Mats and I] had was a year and a half ago when Mats launched his book. After that, we kept in touch.
We then got back together a couple of months ago or so. We started to talk. There was one day when we talked for about two hours. You can see and feel, even through a virtual video call with Mats, the passion and love for the city, and more importantly, his unwavering desire to finish what he started as a player, and that is to win the Stanley Cup.
It was an exhausting process, but what was most rewarding was that each one of these gentlemen, at no time during the process, talked about structure and titles. They only talked about winning. The chemistry that they have is phenomenal. I think we’re in for a real treat.
We heard a lot about Tie Domi’s involvement in all of this. Can you speak to how he was involved in some of this, maybe?
Pelley: There have been countless erroneous reports and inaccurate information over the past six weeks, including… We just didn’t want to comment on them, but it includes some that I was using AI during the trade deadline, and Neil is John’s agent. Proposterous, all of it. Tie wasn’t involved in the process whatsoever. It is another erroneous rumour.
Why are you not hiring a President?
Pelley: We went through the search. We had no preconceived notions of what structure we were going to move toward. But once we got into the process, we realized, as we got deeper into it, that this mix with John and Mats was one that would be formidable. There is no specific reason for it. It was just that this is the structure; it is a different structure, but I think it will be a winning structure.
