Maple Leafs fans share their thoughts on hirings of Mats Sundin and John Chayka

The majority of Leafs fans expressed enthusiasm for the return of Sundin to the organization, given all he achieved as a player and how beloved he remains for many. As for Chayka, there is some understandable skepticism because of his body of work during tenure with the Arizona Coyotes as well as the way things ended. Time will tell if this was the right move, but it is clear that not everyone is on board.

There were plenty of intriguing candidates who were reported to be in consideration for the Leafs, including Sunny Mehta, Mike Gillis, and Scott White. They ultimately decided to go with Chayka, who will no doubt have his work cut out to win over part of the fan base that is critical of his being chosen to replace Treliving.

Pelley made it clear that this would be the most important hire of his tenure with MLSE, so there was going to be some criticism no matter who he went with. The fact that he chose Chayka and Sundin seems to further validate the perspective of some fans who feel that Pelley isn’t doing a great job and is doing more harm than good for the organization. The jury is still out on whether this was indeed the right call, but some have already decided that this pairing is doomed to fail.

Some have even gone as far as to renounce their fandom of the team, believing that they will never be able to end the 59-year Stanley Cup drought. It may be considered by some to be a bit of an overreaction to a front office hiring, but you can also understand why some have grown frustrated with the lack of success the Leafs have had both since 1967 and throughout the Auston Matthews era.

Not everyone is adamantly against the hirings and are willing to give them both a chance to prove themselves. The hope is that Chayka has learned a lot in the time since he left the Coyotes and served his suspension by the NHL, and perhaps having Sundin around to mentor him could be the combination for his second stint as GM to be more successful. As the saying goes, sometimes the best moves are the ones you least expect.

At the end of the day, the Leafs needed to make some changes because the moves of the most recent regime were putting the organization in a bad position. Fans can only hope that Chayka and Sundin can prove the skeptics wrong by being the architects of the team’s redemption. The two will have a lot of work to do in the weeks ahead, beginning with determining the fate of a holdover from the previous regime in head coach Craig Berube.