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Maple Leafs' John Chayka hiring takes on crucial franchise spotlight immediately originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There were plenty of Toronto Maple Leafs fans who weren't happy with the hiring of John Chayka to take over the general manager role for the fired Brad Treliving.
Well, Chayka is going to get the chance early and often to prove whether he was worthy of being the Leafs' GM or not.
This is going to be one of the most important offseasons that Toronto has had in a long time.
Their first order of business, most likely, will be to find a new head coach. They dismissed Craig Berube on Wednesday.
That's a hire into a high-profile spot for a team with veterans who want to bounce back from a bad season. Chayka's got to get it right.
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From there, the next likely thing on the timeline is the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Leafs lucked into that spot in the lottery, and it's another move Chayka can't afford to get wrong.
It seems like picking Gavin McKenna is the easy, safe, yet still exciting route, but whatever direction Chayka goes will be notable.
And then there's Auston Matthews. Does he stay or does he go? Is there a way to get a contract extension signed for him with two years remaining on his deal?
The Maple Leafs clearly would like to keep their captain, if he wants to stay around. But if Chayka can't convince Matthews to believe in his vision, then maybe they don't have a future together.
The reality is that the first two moves probably bleed into the third. Matthews will get more of a sense of who Chayka is based on who he hires and who he drafts.
Chayka, though, won't just be judged by the introductory press conferences. He'll be judged by how the moves actually work out when hockey returns. And the Leafs fans are hoping that they may have been wrong with their negativity about Chayka's hiring.
All will be forgiven if he navigates this tricky offseason well.
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