John Chayka investigated for tampering before he even held his first Maple Leafs press conference
That didn't take long, did it? John Chayka is already in some hot water as the NHL investigated him for contract tampering before he was even brought to the public.
Monday is supposed to be the start of a new era for the Toronto Maple Leafs however it may also come with a lot of questions and some potential red flags; especially if the new group of Mats Sundin and John Chayka aren't brutally honest about what needs to be done.
Though there's already questions about Chayka's fit and previous incidents, it sounds like as much as things change — they often stay the same.
Chayka's tampering is unsubstantiated but a filing before the first day is bad news for the Maple Leafs
According to reports, prior to Chayka being named the Maple Leafs GM on Sunday, one NHL team apparently raised concerns over Chayka's hiring process because they feel he was contacting employees under contract without proper permission.
That sounds eerily similar to his previous antics in Arizona, where he was interviewing for other jobs while still employed without proper consent.
However sources later revealed that when the NHL did indeed investigate those claims, they were unsubstantiated, with the league also reaching out to MLSE CEO Keith Pelley to explain the situation.
While that's all well and good, it's already a bad sign when other teams are trying to raise concerns before you've even introduced Chayka to the public, and if teams are feeling threatened that Chayka may poach their guys then complaining is a great way to deter that.
All the old-heads in the business are relying on their young gun GM's to help translate things into a more modern era, and with Chayka one of the forefathers of analytics in hockey; he could be trying to build a superteam.
One executive turned down the Maple Leafs due to refusing to work alongside Chayka
We heard reports previously about names like Jason Spezza turning down the GM role because he wasn't ready. That's perfectly fine.
What's not fine though is that in the same tampering report, it was also noted that a name involved in the GM search was actually set to be hired by Toronto. However, when it was relayed to them it would be alongside Chayka — they flat out refused and walked away:
Sources said the Maple Leafs expressed interest in offering a significant advisory role to one of the prominent candidates reported in the search, but that candidate declined because he did not want to work with Chayka.
We don't know who that could have been although there are a few names who were in the final cuts like Scott White and Mike Futa, but nothing is known publicly. That's bad news when you have ideal candidates who refuse to work with your team; not because of money, but simply who's there.
We also don't know the reason why the candidate refused to work with Chayka but it raises alarm bells when you're already facing two negative incidents before you've said a word to the media.
Monday's press conference has to answer for these trust issues, and if this is just the start of what we can expect out of a Chayka run...buckle up Maple Leafs fans.
The road to the Cup is about to get a whole lot bumpier.
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