The ongoing saga that is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ front-office search could be coming to an end. The organization could have made up its mind, potentially waiting to cross the Ts and dot the Is.
After interviewing a seemingly wide list of candidates, the Maple Leafs could be down to the duo they want running the managerial side of the operation.
According to insider Elliotte Friedman, the search could be down to John Chayka and Mats Sundin.
During Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Friedman discussed how the Leafs’ final decision depends on Sundin’s willingness to come aboard.
“As it stands right now, I’m under the impression it’s gonna be Mats Sundin and John Chayka, and they just have to close the deal.”
Friedman suspects that GM candidates interviewed under the assumption that they would be working under Sundin. As such, accepting the GM role would be contingent on the successful candidate’s willingness to be subordinate to Sundin.
So, what exactly would Sundin’s role be?
As reported earlier on Heavy, Sundin could be landing in the upper echelons of the organization. As Friedman suspects, Sundin could be landing as the Maple Leafs’ Vice-President of Hockey Operations.
Friedman underscored the fact that, given Sundin’s inexperience as a hockey executive, his workload would be lighter insofar as reducing the scope of business-side activities. That situation would leave Sundin to focus solely on the actual hockey side of the operation.
Meanwhile, Chayka, as Friedman posited, would take over the full-time managerial duties.
Maple Leafs to Get Data-Driven GM in Chayka
Maple Leafs’ CEO Keith Pelley pretty much let the cat out of the bag when he focused on the need for a data-driven exec in the GM role. The chatter immediately turned to Sunny Mehta. Mehta, of course, is now the full-time GM of the New Jersey Devils.
That situation forced the Leafs to look elsewhere. And Chayka would pretty much fill that description. Checkered history notwithstanding, Chayka has a reputation for being one of the early adopters of analytics in hockey.
Chayka was known as a data-focused decision-maker until he left the NHL and went into the business world. While Chayka would certainly be a surprising choice, it makes sense that the Maple Leafs would target the former Arizona Coyotes exec. He’s got the profile and the experience the Maple Leafs want, at least according to Pelley.
Hiring Sundin Is All About Optics
Meanwhile, hiring Sundin could be a questionable decision. He lacks the typical background and experience an organization might be looking for in a president or vice-president of hockey ops. But as Friedman drilled down on, hiring Sundin is all about optics.
Namely, the optics in question involve restoring pride in the Maple Leafs franchise. The chatter surrounding the team this season was the players’ seeming capitulation at the end of the season.
The aim is to restore the willingness to compete for the Maple Leafs crest, regardless of standings or circumstances.
As such, Sundin would be something more akin to a standard-bearer for the organization. His return aims to evoke memories of those deep playoff runs in the early 2000s. Those runs brought the Leafs close to the Stanley Cup Final, with Sundin leading the charge.
There is no timeline for an announcement at this point. However, the feeling is that something could drop sooner rather than later. So, stay tuned.
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