New brain trust in TO: Maple Leafs put Sundin, Chayka in charge of front office

TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs have landed on a new brain trust.

The Original Six franchise looked both forward and back Sunday, naming ex-captain Mats Sundin as its senior executive adviser of hockey operations and John Chayka as general manager.

The moves mark a reset of the club’s front office after a season that ended with Toronto missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

The team says Sundin will provide support across hockey operations, with a focus on team culture, player development and leadership support.

“This fan base deserves greatness and I am grateful for the opportunity to help this team, organization and city achieve that,” Sundin said in a release. “My love for the Maple Leafs and the City of Toronto is an important part of who I am and who I will always be.

“I look forward to working closely with John as we both recognize the incredible opportunity and responsibility to win here in Toronto.”

Toronto fired GM Brad Treliving in March, near the end of the disastrous campaign for the Maple Leafs, who entered the season among the Stanley Cup favourites back in September.

The club also did not replace president Brendan Shanahan after he was let go in May 2025.

Sundin and Chayka arrive with the organization still searching for its first Stanley Cup since 1967.

A news conference is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

The Maple Leafs’ all-time leader in points and game-winning goals, Sundin had a complicated Toronto exit in 2008 before a brief stint with the Vancouver Canucks, but remains a fan favourite for his 13 seasons in blue and white.

The 55-year-old Swede, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012 and returned home to start a family after retiring, has never held a formal management position in the game.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and chief executive officer Keith Pelley said the organization was focused on a “data-centric” approach for the hockey operations department at a press conference following Treliving’s dismissal.

“They have to really understand data and the importance of data and where data is moving,” Pelley said at the time.

That’s where Chayka likely comes in.

The 36-year-old became the NHL’s youngest GM when he was hired by the Arizona Coyotes a decade ago. His time in the desert was marked by an analytics-heavy push and bold trades.

“I’m honoured to join the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and excited to work alongside Mats and the entire organization,” Chayka said in a release. “This is one of hockey’s most historic franchises, with a passionate fan base who want to win.

“I’m focused on building a team that is competitive, driven and relentless — one that is in the best position to win for our fans and for the City of Toronto.”

Chayka abruptly resigned in July 2020 on the eve of the league’s pandemic restart and was subsequently suspended by commissioner Gary Bettman for one year in 2021 for “conduct detrimental to the league and game” after pursuing job opportunities with other teams while still employed by the Coyotes.

Arizona was also docked first- and second-round picks for holding unauthorized workouts with draft prospects under his watch, in breach of the league’s scouting combine policy.

Chayka hadn’t worked in the NHL since.

The first order of business for the new brain trust will be determining the future of head coach Craig Berube.

The Stanley Cup winner with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 helped Toronto make the second round of the 2025 playoffs, but appeared to run out of ideas as this season spiralled for a group that allowed the league’s second-most goals and finished last in shots against.

Toronto will also have to decide on a path forward — was 2025-26 a one-off or representative of a championship window that’s now closed? — for the roster’s core with captain Auston Matthews signed for two more years before potentially hitting unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2028.

The Maple Leafs don’t have a ton of high-end talent in the pipeline after taking numerous swings at past trade deadlines, and the organization will be watching the NHL draft lottery closely after finishing with the league’s fifth-worst record.

Should one of the 11 non-playoff teams behind Toronto beat the odds and win the lottery, the Maple Leafs would fall out of the top-5 and surrender their pick to the Boston Bruins as part of the deal for defenceman Brandon Carlo last spring.

Sundin wrapped up his 2024 book “Home and Away,” talking about his connection to the city.

“For a guy who wore (No. 13) on his back his entire career, I was — and am — incredibly fortunate,” he wrote. “I collected so many memories along the way, a list too long of people who guided and supported me, of teammates I was honoured to sit next to on the bench. It was a wonderful ride. Fifteen years later (after parting ways with the Maple Leafs), I have my beautiful family and two places to call home.

“One here in Sweden, and one across the ocean in Toronto.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press