What Is The Fallback If Sundin Passes?

The Toronto Maple Leafs, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, appear to be on the verge of hiring former Leaf and Hall-of-Famer Mats Sundin and former Arizona GM John Chayka, but reports have indicated that the deal is not etched in stone and that if Sundin decides not to serve in a hockey operations role, that would not make the choice of Chayka a fait accompli. 

Chayka, who served as Coyotes GM from 2016 to 2020, has been out of hockey management and in private business the last six years, but his record when in Arizona was spotty at best. As the process has evolved, there have been a number of surprises and false leads, including the assumption that former Vancouver GM Mike Gillis was a sure thing to be either team president or GM. The latest reports do not even mention Gillis being in the mix. That could mean that he was never a realistic option, or that he was ruled out during the process. 

The name of former Los Angeles Kings AGM and current FAN 590 radio co-host Mike Futa as a candidate did not emerge until Futa confirmed that he was interviewed on Wednesday. Besides Chayka, the leading candidate for the GM job was Dallas Stars assistant GM Scott White, and according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, White is still “very much in the mix” for a job in the Leafs front office.  

Once MLSE has made a decision, the first thing to determine is the future of head coach Craig Berube. The Stanley Cup winner has two years left on his contract and based on Keith Pelley’s press conference earlier this month, his fate will be determined by the new management team. St. Louis reporter Andy Strickland, who covered Berube during his tenure with the Blues, believes that the Leafs will probably move on from the veteran bench boss and make a clean sweep of management and the coaching staff. 

The question then would be what direction the Leafs would go behind the bench, opting for a young up-and-coming coach in Manny Malhotra, an accomplished college coach like Denver’s David Carle, or another Cup winner like ex-Bruins and Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy.