| John Chayka hired as Leafs GM, Sundin as advisor [message #852212] |
Mon, 04 May 2026 13:45  |
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 Kr55
Messages: 12866
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
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Keith Pelley going rogue hiring John Chakya and Sundin to lead the Leafs.
Back onto the analytics train, but with a guy far less liked around the league than Dubas. Sundin has zero management experience.
Steve Simmons in the new today with this question:
https://x.com/puckempire/status/2051353668633374955
He says he talked to 20 people around the league about the GM hiring and 19 said it was a "sham" and called Chayka a "con artist," "liar," "salesman"
"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013
"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015
5 x $5,000,000
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Kr55
Messages: 12866
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
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@PeteBlackburn
Incredible stuff happening in Toronto
"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013
"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015
5 x $5,000,000
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 smyth260
Messages: 1253
Registered: November 2007
1 Cup
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That was the ballsiest question I have ever seen in a sports conference. I hate that it was Steve Simmons, but credit for not holding back. The Edmonton media are toothless.
Clean house or bust
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Adam
Messages: 7756
Registered: August 2005
Location: Edmonton, AB
6 Cups
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| smyth260 wrote on Mon, 04 May 2026 23:10 |
That was the ballsiest question I have ever seen in a sports conference. I hate that it was Steve Simmons, but credit for not holding back. The Edmonton media are toothless.
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The problem with Steve Simmons is that he has zero credibility. He’s telling a story that Chayka had 6 computer screens in his Arizona office and five of them were fake. Great story if true but this is a guy who ran with a fake Phil Kessel hot dog story that got completely disproved. He’s lazier and more vitriolic than Mark Spector - which is really hard to accomplish. So is Chayka a con artist? I mean, I’d need to see more evidence. More likely Simmons just hates analytics so anyone considered an analytics guy is a sham in his mind. Worth noting - if he was one of the Team Canada sexual assault crew, Simmons probably doesn’t say boo.
Not that he’s a great hire of course - I'd have thought hard on Chayka for character questions. This is the guy who got Arizona to lose all their top three draft picks in a draft because he was cheating in getting extra access to prospects. It was the stupidest cheat ever because the extra info from an extra interview or two is minimal and yet his chances of getting caught were so high.
He then used his top remaining pick to select a complete scumbag. He and the coyotes had not planned for the fallout from that though so rather than just take the heat over that dreadful pick, they rescinded it, in essence forfeiting their fourth round pick too that year.
Then he gets caught talking to another team about leaving the coyotes - who he's under contract with - and joining them. He gets himself suspended and fired.
That's a lot of poor judgement from a guy and I think it's fair to say he hasn't shown tremendous character. He's also super young and what has he ever really done in any field?
Not sad that the Leafs got him!
"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
#FireBobbyNicks
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Kr55
Messages: 12866
Registered: May 2002
Location: Edmonton
6 Cups
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| Adam wrote on Tue, 05 May 2026 10:51 |
| smyth260 wrote on Mon, 04 May 2026 23:10 |
That was the ballsiest question I have ever seen in a sports conference. I hate that it was Steve Simmons, but credit for not holding back. The Edmonton media are toothless.
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The problem with Steve Simmons is that he has zero credibility. He’s telling a story that Chayka had 6 computer screens in his Arizona office and five of them were fake. Great story if true but this is a guy who ran with a fake Phil Kessel hot dog story that got completely disproved. He’s lazier and more vitriolic than Mark Spector - which is really hard to accomplish. So is Chayka a con artist? I mean, I’d need to see more evidence. More likely Simmons just hates analytics so anyone considered an analytics guy is a sham in his mind. Worth noting - if he was one of the Team Canada sexual assault crew, Simmons probably doesn’t say boo.
Not that he’s a great hire of course - I'd have thought hard on Chayka for character questions. This is the guy who got Arizona to lose all their top three draft picks in a draft because he was cheating in getting extra access to prospects. It was the stupidest cheat ever because the extra info from an extra interview or two is minimal and yet his chances of getting caught were so high.
He then used his top remaining pick to select a complete scumbag. He and the coyotes had not planned for the fallout from that though so rather than just take the heat over that dreadful pick, they rescinded it, in essence forfeiting their fourth round pick too that year.
Then he gets caught talking to another team about leaving the coyotes - who he's under contract with - and joining them. He gets himself suspended and fired.
That's a lot of poor judgement from a guy and I think it's fair to say he hasn't shown tremendous character. He's also super young and what has he ever really done in any field?
Not sad that the Leafs got him!
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Sundin with zero management experience in any capacity is a great add too.
Feel like this is all set up so Pelley can ensure he has a big say in everything going forward. Better hope ChatGPT gives him good advice!
"We need to get better immediately. That starts today"
- Lowe, 2013
"Next year I would forecast as another developmental year"
- MacT, 2015
5 x $5,000,000
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Dragon_Matt
Messages: 844
Registered: January 2009
Location: edmonton
No Cups
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Maybe they're going to offload Matthews Nylander Reilly and go for multiple first overall picks! Steve Tambellini might be available for years 3-5 of this rebuild.
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Skookum Jim
Messages: 6140
Registered: March 2006
Location: Burnaby, BC
6 Cups
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| Kr55 wrote on Tue, 05 May 2026 09:57 |
Sundin with zero management experience in any capacity is a great add too.
Feel like this is all set up so Pelley can ensure he has a big say in everything going forward. Better hope ChatGPT gives him good advice!
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ChatGPT .. your next Oiler pro-scout!
Best UFA defenceman
McDAVID! Oh YEAH Baby!! (Thank you Lord!)
Tic-Tac-Tao!
Keep on Rockin' in the Free World
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