Maple Leafs CEO cites 'deep due diligence' in controversial GM hire
Maple Leafs already under microscope for hiring John Chayka, who resigned abruptly as Coyotes GM in 2020 and received a 1-year suspension from NHL.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be under the microscope this season in the wake of their recent hiring of former Arizona Coyotes general manager John Chayka. Leafs CEO Keith Pelley on Monday, May 4, introduced Chayka as the team's new GM and Hall of Famer Mats Sundin as senior executive adviser of hockey operations. But at the news conference, Pelley faced questions about Chayka's past ā after he abruptly resigned from his post in Phoenix just before the 2020 playoffs and later received a one-year suspension from the NHL for "conduct detrimental to the league and game.
" In an exchange that later went viral on social media, Pelley responded to a Toronto Sun writer's pointed questioning of the Chayka hiring by responding simply, "We conducted due diligence, and it was a deep due diligence. " Steve Simmons goes at Keith Pelley for hiring John Chayka. This was something.
pic. twitter. com/zSw8768sCQ ā World Hockey Report (@worldhockeyrpt) May 4, 2026 Pelley continued: "It was a thorough process.
I've read all the reports, I've talked to numerous people; I won't reveal who I've talked to that were close to the process. I'm very happy with where we landed. " The 36-year-old Chayka became the NHL's youngest-ever GM when he was hired 10 years ago by the Coyotes.