Chayka Continues Overhaul in Toronto

John Chayka, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, continues to add to his front office staff. Last week, the team announced the hiring of Dan Palango, Brad Rossen, and JP Perpich.

These hires continue to showcase Chayka’s broad strategy for resetting the Maple Leafs’ approach to drafting and player development. Dan Palango will serve as Toronto’s new Director of Amateur Scouting. Brad Rossen will serve as Vice President of Research and Development, and JP Perpich is the new Director of U.S. Amateur Scouting.

The hiring of Palango shouldn’t come as a big surprise since he was the right-hand man to current Maple Leafs assistant general manager Judd Brackett. Palango has followed Brackett from Vancouver to Minnesota, and now Toronto. Palango served as an amateur scout with the Minnesota Wild. At the same time, Brackett was their director of amateur scouting, and both were promoted to higher roles with the Maple Leafs.

Rossen has a background in analytics. He was formerly the Director of Analytics with the Arizona Coyotes when Chayka was their general manager. He’s been working for CAA as a consultant since 2020 and, more recently, as an agent in 2025.

Perpich has spent the past five years with the Wild, the last four as an amateur scout, and worked closely with both Brackett and Palango there. He is now in charge of Toronto’s scouting efforts across the USHL, NCAA, and other U.S. amateur circuits.

Chayka Hires Andy O’Brien

Chayka and the Maple Leafs have hired Andy O’Brien. He is the longtime trainer of future Hall of Fame forward Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins. O’Brien also happens to have ties to Hayley Wickenheiser, who parted ways with the Maple Leafs as part of their front office overhaul earlier this summer. O’Brien will serve as Toronto’s new strength and conditioning coach.

O’Brien, who met Crosby when he was just 13, recognized his talent immediately.

“What was interesting for me is he was a guy that saw the ice really well, but he wasn’t a guy that tried to use his hands to make a lot of play, like he used his body, and he was physical, and he was aggressive, and he kinda had this alpha male characteristic,” O’Brien said of Crosby in 2013. 

“Typically, when you think of a skilled player, you think of guys with just really good hands, like a good shot. It’s like you’re either skilled or you’re a hard-working, grinder-type guy. That was the tradition.”

O’Brien also taught Crosby the fundamentals of proper physical technique so as to lessen the risk of injury.

“And during breaks, we would eat together, and I would teach him all about physiology, the names of the muscles and the philosophy behind what we were doing,” O’Brien noted.

For a team like Toronto, which suffered a lot of injuries last season, hopefully the addition of a guy like O’Brien will help lessen the number of injuries the Maple Leafs see. I think certain players like Chris Tanev or Anthony Stolarz could really benefit from having O’Brien around.