John Chayka (born June 9, 1989) is the former

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mull ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). Previously, he served as assistant general manager of the Coyotes. Prior to joining the Coyotes, Chayka was part of an analytics company called Stathletes, and completed his education at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

Ivey Business School Ivey Business School is a constituent unit of the University of Western Ontario, located in London, Ontario, Canada. Ivey offers full-time undergraduate (HBA), MBA, MSc, MFE and PhD programs and also maintains two teaching facilities in Toronto ...

. Chayka was the youngest general manager in NHL history, being 26 years of age at the time he became general manager of the Coyotes in May 2016. The Coyotes posted a 131–147–38 record under his four seasons as general manager. The franchise also clinched their first playoff berth since 2012 during this period. Chayka abruptly resigned from his position on July 26, 2020, just one day before the start of the

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs was the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL). The playoffs began on August 1, 2020, and concluded on September 28, 2020, with the Tampa Bay Lightning winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise ...

. On January 25, 2021, Chayka was suspended from working in the NHL for the remainder of the 2021 calendar year. NHL Commissioner

Gary Bettman Gary Bruce Bettman (born June 2, 1952) is an American sports executive who serves as the commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice president and general cou ...

cited "conduct detrimental to the league and game", and further ruled that Chayka had "breached his obligation to the club" by pursuing opportunities with other clubs while still under contract with the Arizona Coyotes, and then terminating his contract with three years remaining. Chayka and the Coyotes were later revealed to have hosted a private scouting combine for draft prospects, which is strictly forbidden by the NHL. The Coyotes were subsequently forced to forfeit their second-round selection in the 2020 draft and their first-round pick in the 2021 draft. Chayka and his wife Kathryn, through their company Compass Restaurant Group, own 12

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was the ...

franchises.

References

1989 births Living people Arizona Coyotes executives National Hockey League executives National Hockey League general managers Cowichan Valley Capitals players Ice hockey people from Ontario People from the Regional Municipality of Niagara {{Canada-icehockey-bio-stub