Young NHL GM and his bond with ex-Blue Jay exec Anthopoulos
Coyotes’ Chayka gains valuable lesson from ‘a smart guy, a creative mind’
It started with a phone call.
John Chayka, the youngest general manager in the National Hockey League, was looking for a mentor. The 27-year-old, who was hired as the GM of the Arizona Coyotes in May, was a new face in the hockey world and had not risen to the position via a traditional path. So about a year ago, when he was still the team’s assistant GM, Chayka contacted similar outside-the-box thinkers in the sports world.
Chayka had breakfast with Jerry Colangelo, who was a fourtime executive of the year in the NBA while running the Phoenix Suns. He exchanged texts with Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein. But the person he really hit it off with was former Toronto Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos.
“I didn’t know him at all,” said Anthopoulos, who is a vicepresident of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. “I guess he got my phone number and he called me. He called me again and we started exchanging some texts.
“Even though they are not the same sport, there’s a lot of parallels from both sides that you can draw on. I’m always willing to talk and exchange ideas. I think it’s a good and healthy thing.”
What does a hockey team in the middle of the desert have in common with a baseball team in Canada? According to Chayka, more than you might think.
Like the Jays, who have occasionally faced challenges in finding success in a hockey-first market, the Coyotes have had similar difficulty in attracting fans and free agents to a team in a non-traditional hockey market.
That Anthopoulos had also been one of the younger general managers in baseball provided even more common ground, as did their shared interest in the advanced analytics of their sports.
“It’s an interesting parallel, for sure,” said Chayka, who co-founded Stathletes, a St. Catharines, Ont., company that produces proprietary hockey analysis for private clients. “Toronto’s a great market, as I think ours is. Toronto is maybe non-traditional, but at the same time (Anthopoulos) went about his business and had success. Any time someone’s in a position like that and you appreciate that they’ve done good things, I want to reach out and see what I can learn.
“Alex is a smart guy, a creative mind. I think the results of the Blue Jays right now and in previous years speaks for itself. I just respected the way he went about building a team: draft and develop and through trades to create a great organization.”
To call them friends might be a stretch. After all, while they talk on the phone and text occasionally, Anthopoulos and Chayka have yet to be in the same room together. But their ties were still strong enough that the Toronto Sun reported Anthopoulos had been approached in November 2015 about taking a senior position or a consulting role with the Coyotes shortly after walking away from the Jays.
Nothing came of it, but the two have maintained their rapport.
“I don’t want to overstate the relationship,” said Anthopoulos, who hoped to sit down with Chayka once the MLB playoffs were over.
“I’m always open-minded. Anyone who’s ever open to talk to in sports, I love getting perspectives from other teams and people who work with other teams. So anytime people want to brainstorm or exchange ideas is a good thing.”
So far, Chayka said the biggest piece of advice that Anthopoulos has given him is to “be yourself and trust your instincts and be a relentless learner — seeing if there’s something out there that can make you better.”
Chayka understands that as a young GM with a background in analytics rather than playing, coaching or scouting, some might look at his ascent skeptically. But so far you cannot quibble with any of the moves he has made.
The Coyotes, who were led by rookies Max Domi and Anthony Duclair last year, have another seven players who are age 23 or under in the lineup this season. And after orchestrating a couple of creative trades for the dead-money contracts of Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Florida’s Dave Bolland, in which Arizona gave up its unused cap space for high-end prospects and draft picks, Chayka has set up the organization for a promising future.
“In order to win in the National Hockey League, coaching is great but talent wins,” Chayka said. “So how do you get talented players? The best option is to draft and develop them. The goal here is to win a Stanley Cup more than just survive.
“We’ve tried to keep our head above water for long enough. Now it’s time to win a Stanley Cup with a core group of players who are talented enough, skilled enough and have the right attributes to be a championshipwinning team.”
Sound familiar? It should, because it was the cornerstone of Anthopoulos’s model during his time in Toronto.
We’ve tried to keep our head above water for long enough. Now it’s time to win a Stanley Cup with a core group of players who are talented enough.