At the 2026 NHL Draft Combine, John Chayka spoke to Ryan Leslie about his takeaways from the combine, his meetings with Ivar Stenberg and Gavin McKenna, his discussions with Auston Matthews, the coaching search, and his first month on the job.
What can you share about the discussions and meetings with your staff and also with the prospects themselves? What is the biggest takeaway?
Chayka: I love it. I love the combine. It is one of my favourite weeks. It is a grind. There are 80 interviews or so. It is 9-5. It is like speed dating. But this is our chance to get to know the players, hear their stories, and build the book up a little bit on them. I love it and enjoy it. I get to watch some of the testing and see the guys compete. It is a lot of fun.
Does it provide more clarity, or maybe a few more layers to the decision?
Chayka: It is a two-year process. This is kind of the last step in terms of building up that book. You only get to pick so many players with the picks you have. This information is valuable for years.
These guys have done it for a long time. I’ve been watching these players, driving around, and creating that book. It is the last step, but it is an important one, too.
Everyone in the market is wondering about the #1 pick. What was the visit like with Gavin McKenna in Whitehorse? What did you learn from that, and then this week from spending time with him?
Chayka: Gavin is a special talent. Everyone has watched him on the ice. They see that part of it. It was important for me to get to know him as a person — to go into his family home, to spend some time, and to get to spend some time with them. It was super valuable.
I think it was an important part of what we do — to get the person right, first and foremost — and then to get to know the player better. Wonderful family. Really unique background. It’s an amazing community he has, what it means to him, and how important it is for him to give back to his community.
He is the classic Canadian story: kid on the rink learning the game for the love of the game, no real coaches until 13 years old. He is an incredible talent and a good person.
Mats Sundin has a pretty good book on Ivar Stenberg. He impressed a lot of people at the Worlds. What is your takeaway on him?
Chayka: Again, special player. Mats has had the book on him for years, which is nice. Good family. Good person. As a player, he is a smart, competitive player and a three-zone guy. We had a chance to spend some time with him as well.
These are the first-, second-, third-, or fourth-best players in their age group in the world. You are talking about world-class talent, and he’s got it.
What can you share with us about the discussions you’ve had with Captain Auston Matthews?
Chayka: It’s been encouraging. It has been an honest and open dialogue, which is what we expect. I knew Auston and what he is about, but certainly, you hear more about his passion for the Leafs and his pride in putting that sweater on. Being the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs is a big part of who he is. He has a deep, burning desire to win in Toronto, which aligns with what Mats and I are about.
A lot of the conversations have been constructive with good feedback. We’ve got some ideas. He has some ideas. We’ve been working through all of that. We continue to have those conversations, as we do with all of our players, but certainly, as a captain, it is important he understands our vision and our plan. We’ve been having those talks.
You’ve been doing your due diligence on the coaching front as well. Do you have an update on the process?
Chayka: The process has been good. It has been diligent. We started with a very thorough, wide net, making sure we don’t miss anything. It has been a while since the organization has done that. It was incumbent upon us to be really diligent in how we went about doing this.
We spoke to about 20 people in the first round of interviews. We will go from there on that process.
We have this interesting roster where we have star players, we have good role players, we have guys in the primes of their careers, we have some good young players coming up, and the first-overall pick coming in. We are looking for a coach who has the experience of dealing with a lot of those things, some versatility in their structure and approach, and who can take this team to the next level and lead the group ahead. Those are some of the things we’re looking for.
Can you provide an update on the types of things you’re targeting via trade and free agency?
Chayka: We will exhaust all of the avenues. It is interesting. In free agency, it is not cheap. You have to win the bid and beat the market, but you are not giving up assets. Making trades, you have to find a fit. You have to give to get. We are trying to find that balance and fill the holes we have and think we can improve upon while managing both the short and long term.
We have been pretty deep on a few things, but nothing is obviously there yet. We will keep working away on it.
There was some alarming news about Max Domi, and everybody is keeping Max in their thoughts. What can you tell us about his recovery?
Chayka: Max is a special person and loves being a Toronto Maple Leaf. He played through some injuries throughout the season. He went to get that address, and it didn’t go as we hoped or expected. The good news is that he is recovering and progressing every day. That is the main thing.
We will get to camp, assess him, see where he is at, and maybe have more of an update then. For now, it is recovering day by day.
How are you handling the first month on the job? It must be like drinking from a firehose.
Chayka: We’ve got a lot of great people, so that always helps. It is a good group. We have some work to do, but that is why these situations become available. I have a lot more conviction today than I did a month ago.
Mats has been a great partner. He is very engaged and has a ton of experience in the market. He knows what it means to be a Toronto Maple Leaf. That has been a big part of the offseason plan.
These next three or four weeks are really when it is time to make some changes.
