Brewin Flames Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) Chayka quits as Coyotes general manager, replaced by Sullivan Was youngest at position in NHL history when hired at age 26 NHL.com @NHLdotcom July 26, 2020 John Chayka quit as general manager and president of hockey operations of the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday and was replaced by assistant Steve Sullivan. "The club is disappointed in his actions and his timing as the Coyotes prepare to enter the NHL's hub city of Edmonton, where the team will begin postseason play for the first time since 2012," the Coyotes said in a statement. "Chayka has chosen to quit on a strong and competitive team, a dedicated staff and the Arizona Coyotes fans, the greatest fans in the NHL. "The club is moving forward and has named Steve Sullivan as interim general manager. He has the full support of the entire organization including team ownership, executive leadership, players, and coaches. The club will have no further comment on the matter, as the club remains focused on the opportunity to pursue a Stanley Cup." Chayka became the youngest general manager in NHL history when he was hired at 26 on May 5, 2016. He was also named president of hockey operations July 12, 2017, and signed a long-term contract with the Coyotes on Nov. 11, 2019. Among the moves the Coyotes made since Chayka was named GM were trading for forwards Taylor Hall, Phil Kessel, Nick Schmaltz, Derek Stepan, Carl Soderberg, Lawson Crouse and Vinnie Hinostroza, defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jason Demers and Jordan Oesterle, and goalies Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper. They also signed free agent defenseman Alex Goligoski and forward Michael Grabner, and drafted forwards Clayton Keller (No. 7, 2016) and Barrett Hayton (No. 5, 2018) and defenseman Jakob Chychrun (No. 16, 2016). However, the Coyotes never reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs during Chayka's tenure. Their last postseason appearance was the 2012 Western Conference Final, a five-game loss to the Los Angeles Kings. This season, Arizona was 33-29-8 (.529 points percentage) and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference. It will play the Nashville Predators (35-26-8, .565), the No. 6 seed, in a best-of-5 series that will begin in Edmonton, the Western hub city, Aug. 2. The winner advances to the playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, scheduled to be held Aug. 10. The Coyotes will play an exhibition game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV). "I've got to worry about the team," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said July 25. "I'm not an outside noises guy, I don't like outside noises. I cocoon the team here, our players. We had a great practice today and then we'll jump on the plane and we'll see what happens from there. We're just worried about Nashville and how we're going to go to Edmonton and deal with what's there." Sullivan, 46, was GM of Arizona's American Hockey League affiliate in Tucson for the past three seasons. He scored 747 points (290 goals, 457 assists) in 1,011 NHL games, and 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 50 playoff games. One of Sullivan's top priorities will be signing Hall, who can become an unrestricted free agent after the season, to a long-term contract. Hall scored 27 points (10 goals, 17 assists) in 35 games for Arizona after he was traded by the New Jersey Devils on Dec. 16. Edited July 27, 2020 by Brewin Flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icechipper Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Quit? Weird..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 It's a weird situation. Apparently he was given permission to seek another position, but now it's like the club was mad at him for doing so. Not a ton of info out there, so, weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Rumor has it he is looking to join the guy who owns the 76ers and Devils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keep Your Stick on the Ice Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 Assistant level is gonna have to be his next stop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 The opportunity must have been too good for Chayka to pass up for things to have happened like this. If this is the Devils/Sixers/Crystal Palace situation, I wouldn't be surprised if he was given a hands-on job across the different franchises. Orrrrrrr: has Chayka been offered a small piece of ownership? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podein25 Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 58 minutes ago, JR Ewing said: I wouldn't be surprised if he was given a hands-on job across the different franchises. It's a measure of my immaturity that when I first read this I read it as handjob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskaFlyerFan Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 18 hours ago, AJgoal said: It's a weird situation. Apparently he was given permission to seek another position, but now it's like the club was mad at him for doing so. Not a ton of info out there, so, weird. I read the opposite. He asked to get involved with another opportunity and the ownership said no. He didn't like the answer so he quit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 2 hours ago, JR Ewing said: If this is the Devils/Sixers/Crystal Palace situation That is what I heard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyercanuck Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 (edited) Imagine being 30 and the GM of an NHL franchise and telling them to go eff themselves? Edited July 30, 2020 by flyercanuck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Math Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 "The greatest fans in the NHL" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreaseAndAssist Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 I'm going to guess Chayka looked at the analytics and figured out he needed to get out there while he still could. I still think this team is going to move to Houston at some point. It was certainly strange timing on his part, but I think its in his nature to defy tradition, convention, etc. The Coyotes have improved, but they're still a long way off from being a contender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keep Your Stick on the Ice Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 On 8/16/2020 at 10:28 AM, CreaseAndAssist said: I'm going to guess Chayka looked at the analytics and figured out he needed to get out there while he still could. I still think this team is going to move to Houston at some point. It was certainly strange timing on his part, but I think its in his nature to defy tradition, convention, etc. The Coyotes have improved, but they're still a long way off from being a contender. Houston or Kansas City Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J0e Th0rnton Posted February 11, 2021 Share Posted February 11, 2021 Ill just Bump this thread since its relevant again Fallout from the mitch miller drafting I assume Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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