{"id":1045,"date":"2016-09-13T23:51:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T03:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2016-09-16T10:35:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T14:35:38","slug":"john-chaykas-impressive-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2016\/09\/13\/john-chaykas-impressive-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"John Chayka’s Impressive Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Arizona Coyotes<\/strong><\/a> shocked the hockey world this spring when they named\u00a027-year old\u00a0John Chayka <\/strong>their\u00a0General Manager<\/a>. He became the youngest\u00a0General Manager, not only in the NHL, but in all of pro sports. Criticism of the hire inevitably materialized. He’s a stats geek. He’s too young. What does he know? Hockey lifers are going to take this kid to school.<\/em>\u00a0However,\u00a0John Chayka’s impressive offseason\u00a0should be silencing his skeptics.<\/p>\n

John Chayka’s Impressive Offseason<\/h2>\n

Lost in the notion that being a hockey lifer is a requirement for NHL General Mangers is the fact that Chayka himself is a hockey lifer of sorts.\u00a0He’d been a fine player his entire life. Drafted by the Plymouth Whalers<\/strong> in the\u00a02005 OHL Priority Selection<\/a>, Chayka put together a respectable hockey career. Highlights include scoring 80 points in 51 games during his last season with the Woodstock Slammers<\/strong> of the\u00a0MJAHL<\/strong>. This was good\u00a0for third best in the league.<\/p>\n

However, an all-too-familiar curse struck him at the height of his play. Like so many before him, his career was cut short by\u00a0a back injury.<\/p>\n

It was after the injury that Chayka began his journey to NHL employment. Teaming up with colleague Neil Lane<\/strong>\u00a0to form “Stathletes,”<\/a> Chayka became somewhat of a hockey analytics pioneer, supplying advanced statistics to NHL clubs before they became popular. This led to him catching the eye of the Coyotes which, in turn,\u00a0landed him their Assistant General Manager position.<\/p>\n

Given his analytical background, Chayka provides his team with an\u00a0advantage in decision making. Of course, being a General Manager is not just about knowing results. One must understand the business. Since his promotion to full time GM, Chayka is proving he knows this side of the spectrum as well.<\/p>\n

Making a good first impression didn’t take long. Moving up to pick\u00a0#16 and selecting defenseman\u00a0Jakob Chychrun\u00a0<\/strong>at this year’s NHL Draft was a stroke of brilliance. In order to do so, Chayka creatively\u00a0took retired player\u00a0Pavel Datsyuk<\/a><\/strong>‘s $7.5 million cap hit off the\u00a0Detroit Red<\/strong> Wings<\/strong><\/a>‘\u00a0<\/strong>hands. Arizona can afford eating his money, Detroit can’t. Chayka identified this predicament\u00a0and used it to score young talent; an extra base hit in his first major league swing.<\/p>\n

On August 1 he bought out the contract of centremen\u00a0Antoine Vermette<\/a><\/strong>. Analytical data suggests Vermette’s value has been\u00a0declining steadily. Despite his dip in even strength production, Vermette was costing Arizona $1.75 million per season. With prospects\u00a0Dylan Strome\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Christian Dvorak <\/strong>waiting in the wings,\u00a0ridding the team of Vermette made room for\u00a0these talented\u00a0young centremen to crack to lineup and also set the stage for Chayka’s next move.<\/p>\n

On August 25, Chayka sent a third round pick to the Florida Panthers<\/strong><\/a> in exchange for the\u00a0$5.5 million contract of\u00a0Dave Bolland<\/a> <\/strong>and\u00a0prospect\u00a0Lawson Crouse<\/strong>. Bolland is set to miss all of 2016 with an ankle injury, making him and his cap hit a nuisance\u00a0for the Panthers and their wishes of contending this season. With Florida being close to the cap ceiling as it is, Bolland’s contract was standing in the way of their\u00a0Aaron Ekblad<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>extension funds. Chayka once again identified someone else’s\u00a0complicated salary situation and used it to his club’s advantage.<\/p>\n

Adding Crouse and Chychrun to an already stacked prospect pool is making Arizona look like a scary opponent in the not too distant future.\u00a0Whether these prospects pan out or not is of course uncertain. One thing is for sure, though. John Chayka is\u00a0increasing his team’s chances of succeeding. He’s not just some guy who is good with numbers. Chayka\u00a0has some tricks up his sleeve\u00a0and is proving he understands the NHL’s economics.<\/p>\n

Main Image:<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n