TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs ushered in a new era Monday.
The club introduced franchise legend Mats Sundin as its senior executive adviser of hockey operations and John Chayka as general manager less than 24 hours after announcing the long-rumoured hires.
Sundin played 13 of his 18 NHL seasons with Toronto, including 10 as captain. The 55-year-old, who retired in 2009 and was a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee in 2012, has never previously held a management role in the game.
Chayka returns to the league after last working for the Arizona Coyotes, who made him the NHL’s youngest-ever GM at age 26 a decade ago, following almost six years out of the league.
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The pair takes over at a time when the Maple Leafs find themselves at a crossroads after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
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The disastrous season cost GM Brad Treliving his job at the end of March. Former president Brendan Shanahan was shown the door in the spring of 2025 and not replaced.
Sundin, the Maple Leafs’ all-time leader in points and game-winning goals, had a complicated Toronto exit in 2008 before a brief stint with the Vancouver Canucks, but the team’s former captain remains a fan favourite for his 13 seasons in the sport’s biggest media market.
Chayka became the NHL’s youngest GM when he was hired by the Coyotes in 2016. His time in the desert was marked by an analytics-heavy push and bold trades for a cost-conscious club.
The Jordan Station, Ont., product resigned in July 2020 and was then suspended by commissioner Gary Bettman one year in 2021 after pursuing job opportunities with other teams while still employed by the Coyotes.
Arizona was also docked first- and second-round draft picks for holding unauthorized workouts with prospects under Chayka’s watch, in breach of the league’s scouting combine policy.
He hadn’t worked in the NHL since until Sunday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 4, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
