At the very least, the Arizona Coyotes aren’t afraid to try new things.
Today, they officially named a 26-year-old, John Chayka, as their new general manager.
And that wasn’t all.
The Coyotes also unveiled a new, flatter management hierarchy that will see Chayka working alongside head coach Dave Tippett on player-personnel decisions. Tippett has added the title of Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. He’s also agreed to a new, five-year contract.
In addition to those changes, one of the Coyotes’ co-owners, Gary Drummond, will now serve as Director of Hockey Operations.
It was reported yesterday that Chayka would replace Don Maloney as GM. The Coyotes fired Maloney in April, citing a desire to go in a “new direction.”
Chayka sure represents that.
“John is among the best and brightest minds in hockey,” Drummond said in a statement. “He is knowledgeable and driven and has an incredible passion for the game. He brings an innovative approach to assessing talent and looking at player development and combined with his strong analytics expertise, we feel that he’s the right choice for the direction we want to go with our franchise.”
Chayka told reporters today at a press conference that he’s open to using “any and all tools” to help turn the Coyotes into a sustainable winner, from traditional scouting methods to statistical analysis to psychological profiling.
And though some may be skeptical about his age, he insisted he won’t be going at it alone.
“I’m excited to partner with Dave Tippett on this venture,” said Chayka. “I appreciate the experience and knowledge that he brings to the game.”
To aid Chayka and Tippett, the Coyotes intend to hire a “very seasoned” assistant general manager.
The way Chayka explains it, the idea is that all voices will be heard, and all opinions will be considered.
“At the end of the day, the buck stops with me in terms of player-personnel decisions,” he said. “But certainly I’m not someone who’s going to be authoritarian in my views. I’m going to be very open. ... The key for me is the best idea wins.”
Suffice to say, it will be interesting to see how all this plays out. There’s always skepticism when a team tries something new, and this is definitely unique:
So to summarize:
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) May 5, 2016
A co-owner is president of hockey ops.
The head coach is executive vp of hockey ops.
A 26-year-old is general manager.
Chayka, however, believes the Coyotes’ future has never been brighter.
“The positives are endless with respect to the vision and direction of our ownership group, to the influx of young, talented players that are going to excite our fans for years to come, " he said.
“We’ll have challenges along the way as we continue to grow, but we’ll rely on our increased communication, collaboration and innovation to overcome these issues and achieve our goals.”