TORONTO -- Keith Pelley said hiring the Maple Leafs' next management group would be the biggest decision of his tenure as team CEO. After an "exhaustive" search, Pelley introduced John Chayka as their general manager and franchise legend Mats Sundin as their senior executive adviser of hockey operations.
Hiring Chayka in a managerial role is likely to be a controversial decision considering his history with the Arizona Coyotes.
"We conducted due diligence, and it was a deep due diligence," Pelley said Monday. "It was a thorough process. I've read all the reports, I've talked to numerous people; I won't reveal who I've talked to that were close to the process. I'm very happy with where we landed."
Pelley claimed to have "no concerns" over Chayka's past within the league, which has come under scrutiny again in a high-profile position. The 36-year-old became the NHL's youngest-ever GM when he was hired 10 years ago by the Coyotes.
That said, the introductory news conference was not an easy one for Pelley. He received a question from the Toronto Sun asking for comment on how some around league circles are viewing Chayka's hiring as a "sham." Pelley was short, saying, "I must have talked to different people" before addressing his "due diligence" with the search.
Chayka unexpectedly resigned from his post with the Coyotes in July 2020 -- one day before the playoffs were set to begin during the pandemic-shortened season. In January 2021, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman declared Chayka had been suspended for the reminder of the 2021 calendar year due to "conduct detrimental to the league and game." Bettman said Chayka had "breached his obligation to [the Coyotes]" by pursuing other opportunities outside the team and terminating his deal with three years remaining.
Later, it was discovered that Chayka and the Coyotes had conducted illegal predraft testing of prospects out of the NHL scouting combine -- something that's strictly prohibited -- and Arizona had to forfeit a second-round pick in 2020 and first-round choice in 2021.
Chayka hasn't held an NHL front office position since his suspension, and taking on the Original Six post made vacant by Brad Treliving's firing in April is more than dipping a toe back into the business. The Jordan Station, Ontario, native acknowledged in his opening remarks Monday that concerns over his past actions were inevitable, but he said he was focused on starting a new chapter for himself -- and the Maple Leafs.
"I understand [there] will be lots of questions about my path, about my time away from the game and about my time in Arizona," Chayka said. "That experience shaped me, required discipline, creativity and resilience. I've made decisions I'm proud of, and I've also made mistakes that I've learned from. I'm human now in all of it, and I'm better because of it."
Pelley was looking for Toronto's successor at GM to be "data-driven," and Chayka was a pioneer of sorts in that respect when he joined the Coyotes in 2016. The Maple Leafs executive leaned on Neil Glasberg of The Coaches Agency to vet candidates for the job, but Pelley denied rumors about Glasberg influencing his hiring of Chayka.
"He didn't have a vote," Pelley said of Glasberg. "But he facilitated everything [in the process]."
Chayka acknowledged that the game has changed since he was suspended and that he and Sundin will be under the microscope as they work in tandem to get Toronto back on track.
"I've been going around, meeting different organizations across the globe, to see what organizations look like, how they're structured, looking at other resources and other creative competitive advantages," Chayka said. "From ownership down through the players, it was an incredibly valuable lens. I think if I had not been a general manager previously, that would be more concerning ... but I've sat in the chair."
There's no doubt Chayka has his work cut out for him in Toronto. The Maple Leafs are coming off a dismal regular season in which they finished second to last in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17. Chayka said he has spoken with coach Craig Berube and will meet with him again ahead of what would be his third season behind Toronto's bench.
Chayka will have Sundin to lean on as they retool the team. Sundin captained the Maple Leafs for 10 years while spending 13 of his 18 career seasons in Toronto. But he has never held a front office position in the NHL.
There is history between Sundin and Chayka that goes back to minor league hockey, and Pelley believed immediately that they'd be comfortable together. Because of that, he didn't feel the need to give one of them specific senior status over the other.
According to Pelley, Sundin didn't know what he was signing up for.
"I don't even think Mats knew what his contract title was until he got the contract itself," Pelley said. "I can tell you unequivocally that these two gentlemen are totally focused on one thing, and that's bringing the Stanley Cup to Toronto."
Pelley had spoken previously about naming a distinct GM and head of hockey operations but in the end decided on different titles for Chayka and Sundin.
"We had no preconceived notions on what structure that we were going to actually move towards," Pelley said. "But once we got into the process, and as we got deeper into it, that this mix with John and Matt was one that was going to be formidable, and there's no specific reason for it. It was just, this is the structure. It's a different structure, but I think it'll be a winning structure."
In many ways, it's Pelley's reputation on the line now as he backs Chayka as the right candidate to put Toronto back on top. Chayka does know Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, who has just two years remaining on his contract and will be a factor in how quickly the executive needs to turn things around.
"It's incumbent upon us to put the best team on the ice that we can," Chayka said. "It's going to have to take some creativity. We're going to have to have some things go our way, but we certainly feel like we're well positioned with a core group. We have some players that are some of the best players in the world that wear this sweater, and it's [on me] to place the structure principles and give them the resources to go and accomplish our goals."