It’s been more than half a decade since John Chayka led an NHL front office.
The 36-year-old became the youngest general manager in league history when he was tabbed with leading the Arizona Coyotes at age 26, back in 2016. The analytics devotee — who founded the sports data company Stathletes along with his sister, Meghan, in 2010 — spent four seasons as GM of the Coyotes, helping the club end a seven-year playoff drought during his tenure, before leaving abruptly amid a falling out with ownership.
While much of the organization’s roster has been turned over in the years since Chayka was at the helm, the now-dubbed Utah Mammoth’s top line still reflects their former manager’s impact: Clayton Keller (drafted by Chayka in 2016), Lawson Crouse (acquired by Chayka on the trade market in 2016), and Nick Schmaltz (acquired by the former GM in 2018).
Now, the former Coyotes manager is getting another shot to lead a franchise after watching from the sidelines for the past six years. On Sunday, the Toronto Maple Leafs named Chayka their new general manager, replacing Brad Treliving, who was let go in March after three seasons in the role. Chayka will serve alongside franchise legend Mats Sundin, who returns to Toronto as senior executive advisor.
Chayka takes the reins in Toronto with much work to be done after a disastrous campaign that saw the Maple Leafs miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade. As he takes over, let’s take a look back at the most notable business from his four-year tenure in Arizona:
YEAR 1 (2016-17): COYOTES BUILD FUTURE CORE WITH KELLER, CROUSE
At the Draft: Chayka had little time to waste upon taking over the top job in May 2016, after one season as the Coyotes’ assistant GM. But his first draft in the desert was clearly his best of the four he ran as GM.
At seventh-overall, the club selected Clayton Keller from the USNTDP. A decent swing, given where most had Keller pegged to hear his name called in the first round, the Chesterfield, Mo., product has gone on to put up the third-most points of anyone in his draft class, his 596 over 683 games bested only by Auston Matthews (780) and Matthew Tkachuk (670).
The Coyotes also engineered a deal to land the No. 16 pick in the 2016 Draft, the club taking on retired centreman Pavel Datsyuk’s cap hit from Detroit in a deal that sent the Hall of Famer's contract and the 16th-overall pick to Arizona in exchange for Joe Vitale, the New York Rangers’ first-rounder (used by Detroit to draft Dennis Cholowski at No. 20), and a second-round pick (used by Detroit to draft Filip Hronek at No. 53).
Arizona used the No. 16 pick to select Jakob Chychrun. The defender has since collected the fourth-most points of all defencemen in his draft class, and logged the second-most big-league appearances, the majority of which he built during his seven years in Arizona.
Notable Acquisitions: The acquisition that had the greatest long-term impact on the franchise was the August 2016 deal that brought Lawson Crouse to the organization — a trade that saw Arizona send a 2017 third-rounder and a 2018 second-rounder to Florida for Crouse and Dave Bolland, allowing the Panthers to clear Bolland’s contract off their books. Crouse, who’d been drafted 11th overall at the 2015 draft, has been a mainstay with the organization since, hitting his stride as a 20-goal threat in 2021-22.
Chayka also brought in defender Alex Goligoski from Dallas, sending the Stars a fifth-round pick in return. The defender logged five productive seasons for the Coyotes’ back end, peaking with a 36-point campaign in 2016-17.
End-of-season results: The Coyotes’ post-season drought continued in Chayka’s first year, as the club finished second-last in their division, third-last in their conference, and third-last in the league overall, with 70 points and a 30-42-10 record.
YEAR 2 (2017-18): LEADERSHIP GROUP RESHAPED WITH TOCCHET, KEY VETERANS
At the Draft: The 2017 Draft was a rockier one for Chayka and Co. The club’s own seventh-overall pick was traded to the New York Rangers (more on that below), leaving them out of the running for the likes of Nick Suzuki, Martin Necas, and Robert Thomas, who were all still on the board at No. 7.
The Coyotes landed the 23rd-overall pick in a separate deal with Minnesota, and used it to select defender Pierre-Olivier Joseph, leaving on the board netminder Jake Oettinger, who was tabbed by Dallas three picks later. Joseph returned to the QMJHL, and was eventually traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins before playing a game in Arizona.
The only other Coyotes selection from the 2017 Draft who established himself in the NHL was MacKenzie Entwistle, drafted in the third round (69th overall). However, the 193 games he played in the big leagues came with Chicago, as he was similarly traded away before breaking in with the Coyotes.
Notable acquisitions: While the draft may have been a mixed bag, Chayka and Co. made some impactful changes to the rest of the roster via the trade market. He also shifted the club’s culture by bringing in Rick Tocchet as head coach, fresh off back-to-back Stanley Cup wins as an assistant coach in Pittsburgh.
In June 2017, the club swung a deal to bring in veteran centreman Derek Stepan and netminder Antti Raanta from New York in exchange for that seventh-overall pick (which the Rangers used to select Lias Andersson), and defender Tony DeAngelo. The club also brought in veteran blue-liner Niklas Hjalmarsson — then just a couple years removed from winning his third Stanley Cup — from Chicago in exchange for Connor Murphy and Laurent Dauphin.
In February, Chayka made his most impactful move of the campaign, bringing in netminder Darcy Kuemper from Los Angeles in exchange for Scott Wedgewood and Tobias Rieder. Kuemper went on to put up two of the best campaigns of his career in Arizona, and played a pivotal role in pulling the Coyotes back into the playoffs further down the line.
End-of-season results: The changes weren’t enough to move the needle in 2017-18, as the club finished last in their division, last in their conference, and third-last in the league once again, missing the post-season with 70 points and a 29-41-12 record.
YEAR 3 (2018-19): DRAFT-DAY STUMBLES AND ARRIVAL OF NICK SCHMALTZ
At the Draft: The 2018 Draft was a particularly rough one for the organization.
Holding on to their top-end first-rounder this time around, the Coyotes used the fifth-overall pick to draft Barrett Hayton out of the OHL. The centreman, who’s still with the organization, has grown into a useful depth scorer for the franchise. But it’s the talent that went off the board right after Hayton that caused some to later question the pick: Quinn Hughes (7th overall), Evan Bouchard (10th), Noah Dobson (12th).
The centreman’s 155 career points rank 13th-most in his draft class. Among forwards drafted in 2018, his sum ranks eighth-most.
Arizona selected two others who went on to put together big-league careers, though neither did so in the desert: Kevin Bahl (selected 55th overall) broke in with New Jersey, and Ty Emberson (selected 73rd overall) broke in with San Jose.
Notable acquisitions: As was the case with the Datsyuk deal, Chayka continued to seek out opportunities to pry talent away from clubs who needed to clear contracts off their books. In July 2018, the Coyotes added young forward Vinnie Hinostroza and young defender Jordan Oesterle in a nine-piece deal that centred around Arizona taking on retired forward Marian Hossa’s cap hit.
The club also signed Michael Grabner away from the New Jersey Devils in free agency that July, inking him to a three-year, $10.1 million deal. But the most pivotal move of the campaign came in November, when Chayka acquired Nick Schmaltz from Chicago in exchange for Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini.
It was a risky move. Strome had been drafted third-overall by the Coyotes before Chayka had arrived (above the likes of Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen and Zach Werenski). But Strome had struggled to find his footing through his first few years in Arizona — he’d ultimately do so in Chicago, putting up 51 points his first year there after just 16 points over parts of three seasons in Arizona. Perlini had been a 12th-overall pick himself, similarly from before Chayka’s time, and was a more proven offensive threat.
That said, Schmaltz arrived and became a key contributor for the organization. He’s gone on to post five seasons above the 20-goal and 50-point plateaus, and topped out with a career-best 33 goals and 74 points for Utah this past season.
End-of-season results: The progress started to come for the Coyotes, as they finished fourth in their division, ninth in their conference, and 18th in the league with 86 points and a 39-35-8 record. They just missed out on a playoff berth, though, finishing four points out of a wild-card spot, right behind Colorado.
YEAR 4 (2019-20): COYOTES END DROUGHT, MAKE IT BACK TO THE PLAYOFFS
At the Draft: Of the bunch, the 2019 Draft was arguably the most questionable of Chayka’s tenure.
Arizona traded up in the first round to move from their own position (14th overall) to Philadelphia’s (11th overall). They used that No. 11 selection to draft defenceman Victor Soderstrom out of the Swedish Hockey League. Soderstrom went on to play only 53 games for the Coyotes, over parts of four NHL seasons, before moving on. The Flyers, meanwhile, used the 14th selection to draft Cam York (who recently potted a series-clinching goal for Philly in these 2026 playoffs).
Again, it’s the talent that was still on the board at No. 11 that calls into question the decision: Matt Boldy (who went 12th overall), Cole Caufield (15th), Thomas Harley (18th).
The Coyotes’ most successful pick from this draft in fact wound up being Matias Maccelli (selected in the fourth round, at No. 98). To date, the Finnish winger has amassed the ninth-most points in his draft class (168 total, most of which came with the Coyotes organization), vastly outplaying his draft position.
While this was Chayka’s final draft at the Coyotes’ helm, the manager’s impact extended into the next two as well. In August 2020, the NHL announced that the Coyotes would be forced to forfeit their second-round pick in 2020 and their first-round pick in 2021 after violating the league’s combine testing policy, as it was found the organization conducted physical testing on 2020 draft-eligible players prior to the Combine.
Notable acquisitions: The Coyotes swung big on the trade market in 2019, first acquiring Phil Kessel from Pittsburgh in June 2019, in exchange for P.O. Joseph and Alex Galchenyuk. In December, the club swung again, bringing in Taylor Hall (not long removed from winning the Hart Trophy) from New Jersey, in a blockbuster deal that saw Arizona send three young players, a 2021 third-rounder and a 2020 first-rounder (used by New Jersey to draft Dawson Mercer) to the Devils.
This campaign also saw Chayka handle some key business with his core. He signed a 26-year-old Oliver Ekman-Larsson to an eight-year, $66-million extension ($8.25-million AAV). And the GM made waves by inking a 21-year-old Keller to an eight-year $57.2-million extension ($7.15-million AAV), too.
At that point, Keller was coming off three seasons of solid, but not yet elite, production in the desert. But Chayka opted to buck the trend of signing young players to bridge deals and paying the price later, instead choosing to bank on the organization’s belief in the young winger's talent, and committing long-term. The faith paid off. In the third year of his new deal, Keller exploded for 37 goals and 86 points. He’s performed at roughly that level in the three seasons since, as well, topping out at 90 points in 2024-25.
End-of-season results: Though Chayka famously departed the organization on the eve of the post-season due to a rift with team ownership — and was subsequently suspended by the league for a year because of the nature of his departure — the 2019-20 campaign saw the Coyotes finally find some progress.
The club ended its seven-year drought and made it back to the post-season, finishing fifth in their division, 11th in their conference and 22nd in the league with 74 points and a 33-29-8 record during the pandemic-shortened season. Arizona took down Nashville in the Qualifying Round of the playoffs, before falling to Colorado in five games in Round 1.
