The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced the hiring of former captain Mats Sundin as senior executive advisor, hockey operations, and John Chayka as the 19th general manager in franchise history.
The pair will take over from former GM Brad Treliving, who was fired on March 30, near the end of his third season with the team.
“Today is an important day for the Toronto Maple Leafs organization,” said MLSE President & CEO Keith Pelley, in a release. “I’m thrilled to welcome John and Mats to their roles, two great hockey minds that will strengthen our entire hockey club. From the start of this process, it’s been about building a championship-calibre team for our fans and our city and today is an important step towards that goal.”
We have named John Chayka the General Manager and Mats Sundin as Senior Executive Advisor, Hockey Operations
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 3, 2026
Details » https://t.co/25X9aFsYlc pic.twitter.com/vJgSQZoYy9
TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LebRun adds that the club has agreed to a long-term deal with Chayka.
The Leafs and John Chayka have agreed to a long-term deal, per sources. https://t.co/SsXPOluATU
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 3, 2026
Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment president Keith Pelley has said the future of head coach Craig Berube will be decided by Treliving’s replacement. Pelley has also stated he would prefer to see the Maple Leafs retool over entering a full rebuild this summer.
“A rebuild is needed when you are starting from scratch,” Pelley said in late March. “If we’re able to surround [star forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander] with the right culture, with the right structure, with the right personnel, both on and off the ice, then I would say that we would be in a retool, not in a rebuild.
“Having said that … I will always wait for input from the new head of hockey operations.”
The Maple Leafs finished last season with a 32-36-14 record and hold the fifth-best odds heading into the NHL draft lottery on May 5.
After the lottery, if the Maple Leafs remain at No. 5 or higher, they will keep the pick. If they drop to No. 6 or lower, the pick will be traded to the Boston Bruins to complete the Brandon Carlo trade.
Sundin played 13 seasons with the Maple Leafs after he was acquired from the Quebec Nordiques, along with forward Todd Warriner, and defenceman Garth Butcher, in June of 1994 in exchange for forwards Wendel Clark and Landon Wilson, and defenceman Sylvain Lefebvre.
“This fan base deserves greatness and I am grateful for the opportunity to help this team, organization and city achieve that,” said Sundin. “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.”
The 6-foot-5 centre is all over the team’s record book, leading the franchise with 987 points, 79 game-winning goals, and is second in franchise history with 420 goals and 567 assists.
He captained the team for 11 seasons, leading Toronto to the playoffs eight times with two appearances in the Eastern Conference Final in 2000 and 2002.
Sundin’s leadership was recognized in 2008 after he won the Mark Messier Leadership Award in his final season in Toronto.
Drafted first overall by the Nordiques in 1989, Sundin has 564 goals and 1,349 points in 1,346 career games split between the Nordiques, Maple Leafs, and Vancouver Canucks.
The Bromma, Sweden, native was highly accomplished on the international stage with his pinnacle coming in 2006 when he captained his country to Olympic gold in Turin, Italy.
He also won gold three times at the World Hockey Championship in 1991, 1992, and 1998, took home silver in 1990 and 2003, and won bronze in 1994 and 2001.
Sundin was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012 and was named as one of the NHL’s all-time top 100 players in 2017 as part of the league’s centennial season.
Chayka became the youngest GM in NHL history in 2016 at the age of 26 when he took over the Coyotes.
The Coyotes went 131-147-38 in his four-season tenure in Arizona but Chayka resigned from his position in 2020 right before the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I’m honoured to join the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and excited to work alongside Mats and the entire organization,” said Chayka. “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.”
He was suspended from working in the NHL for the 2021 calendar year for what commissioner Gary Bettman called “conduct detrimental to the league and game” and also said that he “breached his obligation to the club” for pursuing new opportunities around the league despite having three years remaining on his contract.
Chayka was also in charge of the Coyotes when the team was stripped of a 2021 first and 2020 second-round draft choice for private scouting combine for prospects.
Prior to joining the Coyotes, Chayka was the co-founder of the Stathletes analytics firm along with his sister, Meghan. His work with Stathletes helped define hockey analytics that are consistently used by NHL teams today.
