Coyotes Name John Chayka as New GM

The Arizona Coyotes hire 26-year-old John Chayka as their new General Manager. He will be the youngest GM in the NHL next season.

The Arizona Coyotes search for a new General Manager was very short-lived as John Chayka was named the new general manager on Wednesday. Chayka joined the Arizona Coyotes organization in May 2015. He was used specifically to help the analytics department of the organization and as an assistant general manager to Don Maloney, but he will be in charge of a whole lot more following Maloney’s firing last month.

Compared to other general managers, Chayka is 16 years younger than the second youngest general manager, Stan Bowman (42). Compared to the players on the Coyotes roster, Chayka is younger than 13 of the players and 13 years younger than Shane Doan.

Chayka is a member of a new breed of hockey mindsets, according to Five for Howling…

"He has been compared in many ways to Kyle Dubas, the 28 year old Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who is seen by many as part of a new generation of hockey operations executives placing more emphasis on analytics in crafting rosters. Chayka’s own contributions to the field of hockey analytics are notable too. He founded Stathletes in 2010 at the age of 20, and devoted his work to developing video tracking at high resolution to assist in player development, benchmarks, and scouting."

Head coach Dave Tippett “Coach Dave Tippett is expected to have an expanded role in player procurement, and Chayka is expected to head up a department that will place an increased emphasis on advanced statistical evaluation,” according to USA Today.

There is a team-scheduled press conference on Thursday morning in which the rest of the hockey operations team will be announced to the public.

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Chayka’s first move as general manager will likely take place on June 24th when the Arizona Coyotes draft 7th overall in the 2016 NHL Draft.