There is a new general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and this choice has caused some debate throughout the league.
After Brad Treliving was let go on March 30, the Maple Leafs began looking for a new GM and chose John Chayka.
Chayka has not been involved in the sport for six years since he left the Arizona Coyotes in 2020. He left Arizona after it was found out that he broke rules by tampering with draft picks. He held private scouting events to look at the best players for the 2020 NHL draft. The league’s commissioner, Gary Bettman, also stated that Chayka did things that went against proper behavior in the league and that he had not followed his responsibility to the Coyotes by talking to other teams while he was still under contract.
Because of his bad actions, the team had to give up their second-round pick for 2020 and their first-round pick for 2021.
At a press conference on Monday, Keith Pelley, the president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, talked about why they picked Chayka.
“When we saw a chance to make a change and bring together two smart hockey minds like John and Mats, we took it,” said Pelley, also mentioning that former Leafs star Mats Sundin was hired as a senior advisor for hockey operations. “These two are entirely focused on winning the Stanley Cup for Toronto. Major decisions will be made together. John will handle the day-to-day operations as the general manager, but we will work together throughout the process. ”
Regarding the worries about what happened in Arizona, Pelley stated that they are not concerned about their new hire.
“We have looked into everything very carefully, and I feel good about our decision,” Pelley mentioned. “We were really impressed by his ideas that he talked about during this time. He takes his time and thinks things through. ”
When he became the manager of the Coyotes in 2016, Chayka made history as the youngest general manager in NHL history at just 26 years old. Now, at 36, he is back after ten years and is currently the youngest general manager still active in the league.
Canadiens are Canada’s Team
Canada’s opportunity to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 33 years is with the Montreal Canadiens, who won 2-1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Even though they only took nine shots on goal against Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Canadiens managed to win Game 7 with a score of 2-1. Jakub Dobes was the standout player, making 28 saves and achieving a . 966 save percentage. He has been solid for the Canadiens throughout the series, with a 2.03 goals against average and a . 923 save percentage. His teammates celebrated his great game by covering his face with shaving cream after the match.
Nick Suzuki and Alex Newhook scored the goals for the team among those nine shots. For Newhook, it was his first goal of the series, and it turned out to be the winning goal. The captain also scored his first goal in this game, and now he has one goal and six points in the playoffs.
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