John Chayka Fits the Bill in Penguins' Front Office
The Pittsburgh Penguins might have an unexpectedly perfect candidate in John Chayka.
After about a month of research, creating lists, and getting in contact with people, the Pittsburgh Penguins are closing in on their hires for the front office.
The Penguins have reportedly wrapped up their first round of interviews and the list of names involved seemed expansive and covered a ton of ground.
Fenway Sports Group’s (FSG) plan from the beginning was to ‘cast a wide net,’ and with some of the names that were in the discussion, ‘wide’ is putting it lightly.
Reports indicated that FSG talked with Eric Tulsky, Marc Bergevin, and Jason Botterill; there were also indications that they wanted to speak with Stan Bowman, as well.
FSG even wanted to talk with Jeff Greenberg, who is working with the Chicago Blackhawks, but came from Major League Baseball.
One name that has sprouted up more recently and has reportedly been interviewed in 33-year-old John Chayka.
Formerly the general manager of the Arizona Coyotes, Chayka is an interesting choice to say the least, but could find success in Pittsburgh.
It’s not certain Chayka would be hired as general manager, rather as Penguins’ president of hockey operations.
Regardless, Chayka fits the exact mold FSG is looking for in Pittsburgh’s front office.
Chayka is a young, intelligent hockey mind who has a focus on analytics, the exact direction FSG wants to go.
When hired by the Coyotes, Chayka was the youngest general manager in NHL history at only 26-years-old.
Prior to working in Arizona, Chayka co-found a statistics company called Stathletics that provides players and teams with focused analytics.
Under Chayka, the Coyotes found improvements with their on-ice play; those improvements only equated to one playoff appearance, but the underlying numbers saw a boost.
They may not win a ton of games, but the Coyotes has solid players with Chayka at the helm; Phil Kessel was dealt there out of Pittsburgh, Jakob Chychrun was a top trade target this past season, and Clayton Keller is one of the most under-appreciated talents in the NHL.
One note, however, that must be looked at when discussing Chayka was his own departure from the Coyotes organization.
Just before the Coyotes began their postseason in 2020, Chayka resigned from his position with three years still remaining on his contract.
At the time of the departure, Chayka threw the blame at Coyotes ownership who didn’t allow him to explore other job opportunites within the NHL.
Following his departure, the NHL suspended Chayka for the 2021 calendar year due to hosting private scouting combines with draft prospects.
The NHL suspended Chayka and docked the Coyotes a second-round pick in 2020 and a first-round pick in 2021.
The situation surrounding the Coyotes hasn’t improved much since Chayka’s departure; they play at a college rink and haven’t had a winning season since their postseason run in 2020.
In Pittsburgh, Chayka would have a much cleaner relationship with ownership and would be stepping into a situation much less dire than in Arizona.
Chayka might have a few black marks on his resume, but those can be mended by helping retool this Penguins team.
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