Speculation: Chayka 'working' with the Devils?

[HyperX]

I posted this in the team thread but figured its derailing because it isn't about anyone who contractually works for us


Soooooooo


Did anyone else know that John Chayka is apparently 'working' with the Devils? Are we going to sign him?

I mean I really dont care tbh, he is heralded analytically. They even go as far as to claim he probably helped in Jack's deal (perhaps through ownership's group/company)



about halfway through the video (5:00 mark) after they discuss Jack's contract, Steve mentions the Devils dont get any leeway in the media due to inner hockey circles being mad at NJ for Chayka

Click to read more...

 

[HyperX]

We obviously were the team scolded for interviewing him (for ownership's group) while he was being investigated/around his suspension

So I would not be shocked if Steve hears that Chayka works with our owners; and that we will likely sign him once his suspension is up (which that is today btw)

 

[Devils731]

The thought was the Devils owners are creating an analytic group that would be headed by Chayka. This group would support the owner’s teams across sports and also sell analytic support to other teams.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Weird that he implies Chayka is the head of their analytics, I'm waiting to hear tomorrow after his suspension ends to learn if he's in NJ, I've heard nothing of the sort.

The 2nd guy he's thinking of must be Tyler Dellow, who made a name for himself as an independent blogger basically talking about how dumb NHL front offices were and was hired by NJ after a stint in EDM and at The Athletic.

EDIT: Definitely not surprised if he thinks NJ is on the shitlist for how they tried to hire Chayka though, seems like they could have broken some unwritten and written rules.

 

[Triumph]

Weird that he implies Chayka is the head of their analytics, I'm waiting to hear tomorrow after his suspension ends to learn if he's in NJ, I've heard nothing of the sort.

The 2nd guy he's thinking of must be Tyler Dellow, who made a name for himself as an independent blogger basically talking about how dumb NHL front offices were and was hired by NJ after a stint in EDM and at The Athletic.

Also got the old guard pissed off at him when he deduced from a referee lawsuit discovery that Colin Campbell had emailed the league's head of officials on multiple occasions about penalties called on his son. But, the NHL being what it is, Colin Campbell still has his job.

 

[HyperX]

The thought was the Devils owners are creating an analytic group that would be headed by Chayka. This group would support the owner’s teams across sports and also sell analytic support to other teams.

Interesting

But I wonder if we can get in trouble if its true he was working with our owners on the Jack deal; simply cause he was suspended but its an NHL contract, albeit he wasnt employed by the Devils

Now that the new year is here.. id imagine maybe we hear something on this front? But if so it also shows an understanding from ownership of the image that portrays , which I dont quite mind

 

[StevenToddIves]

The Devils should not align with John Chayka in any way. He was a godawful GM -- one of the worst in modern history. He has also proven to be a rather unscrupulous individual. The reputed dislike for him by other organizations could only alienate the Devils in the trade market. There is nothing Chayka could do for the organization, analytically or otherwise, which can not be done in superior fashion by the average college intern.

 

[Satans Hockey]

The Devils should not align with John Chayka in any way. He was a godawful GM -- one of the worst in modern history. He has also proven to be a rather unscrupulous individual. The reputed dislike for him by other organizations could only alienate the Devils in the trade market. There is nothing Chayka could do for the organization, analytically or otherwise, which can not be done in superior fashion by the average college intern.

Amen. Our team has had enough problems and issues over the years, we really don't need to go down this road. This guy ain't worth it.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

Chayka's wikipedia page says he and his wife own 12 Wendy's locations. He gets a pass from me. Let's get some Dave's Doubles at the Rock.

 

[Buck Dancer]

If this clown is linked with our franchise in any way, shape or form… it’s time for our owners to GTFO because they’re not fit to take this team to the next level.

 

[StevenToddIves]

If this clown is linked with our franchise in any way, shape or form… it’s time for our owners to GTFO because they’re not fit to take this team to the next level.

It would certainly be alarming. Chayka's brain capacity is somewhere in the Milbury range, he's really that ill-equipped to work in hockey. I normally don't question an NHL executive's intelligence, but Chayka is only smart when it comes to selling his own snake oil. His self-proclaimed superior analytics were foolhardy at best and idiotic at worst, and getting docked a first-round pick for draft tampering was simply moronic. He's just a dumb guy, no two ways about it.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

It would certainly be alarming. Chayka's brain capacity is somewhere in the Milbury range, he's really that ill-equipped to work in hockey. I normally don't question an NHL executive's intelligence, but Chayka is only smart when it comes to selling his own snake oil. His self-proclaimed superior analytics were foolhardy at best and idiotic at worst, and getting docked a first-round pick for draft tampering was simply moronic. He's just a dumb guy, no two ways about it.

When he took over in Arizona, I remember him being heralded as the coming of the new guard who planned to use shrewd, data-driven decision-making to keep the Coyotes successful on a budget. But the vibe I always got from him in interviews was "I'll just use some analytics. Analytics are the key." Just feels like a hedgefund douchebag being like "I'll just buy Toys R Us and fix everything. How hard could it be?"

 

[HyperX]

If this clown is linked with our franchise in any way, shape or form… it’s time for our owners to GTFO because they’re not fit to take this team to the next level.

Well it seems it is inevitable

though hed be with ownership and not the Devils specifically

plus @StevenToddIves , Im not debating what youve said but Chayka's contribution to hockey analytics certainly is why he still gets an interview/job from our owners. Not quite sure the college intern can bring that same level of analytical foresight, but definitely less baggage

 

[Classic Devil]

This was known ages ago. It was reported when he left Arizona that he took a job not with the Devils, but with our parent company, so he's working not just with us, but with the 76ers and whoever else our owners own.

 

[HyperX]

This was known ages ago. It was reported when he left Arizona that he took a job not with the Devils, but with our parent company, so he's working not just with us, but with the 76ers and whoever else our owners own.

I dont recall ever hearing a confirmation that our ownership group hired him

thats why I made the thread. We all had our assumptions based off of logical guesses, but I think the exact reason there hasnt been a confirmation/announcement is because the NHL boys club doesnt like it

or I just missed it

 

[StevenToddIves]

Well it seems it is inevitable

though hed be with ownership and not the Devils specifically

plus @StevenToddIves , Im not debating what youve said but Chayka's contribution to hockey analytics certainly is why he still gets an interview/job from our owners. Not quite sure the college intern can bring that same level of analytical foresight, but definitely less baggage

If a contribution to hockey analytics made one even near-worthy of an NHL GM job, we would still need an explanation of what Chayka's contribution actually was. None of his analytic theories have been properly explained and/or proven to succeed at any level. Chayka did nothing to improve the Coyotes, in fact it was quite the opposite. Chayka was bad at trading and hiring and was sub-par drafting and developing. He was essentially a snake oil salesman who duped a pretty clueless Coyotes ownership into a cushy job and lost it because his unscrupulous nature came to light. John Chayka has no place in the NHL, and certainly not with the Devils.

 

[HyperX]

If a contribution to hockey analytics made one even near-worthy of an NHL GM job, we would still need an explanation of what Chayka's contribution actually was. None of his analytic theories have been properly explained and/or proven to succeed at any level. Chayka did nothing to improve the Coyotes, in fact it was quite the opposite. Chayka was bad at trading and hiring and was sub-par drafting and developing. He was essentially a snake oil salesman who duped a pretty clueless Coyotes ownership into a cushy job and lost it because his unscrupulous nature came to light. John Chayka has no place in the NHL, and certainly not with the Devils.

Thats totally fair and I agree with you that he duped them over

But we arent hiring him at all for the Devils and his tenure as a GM really doesnt matter if our owners are hiring him for a strictly-analytical position

And while yes - his contributions cant be exactly quantified, clearly he has a swagger about him in the analytics community because even after that controversy us and other groups still want him

I find it very very hard to believe Harris and Blizter are the only two who were interested in Chayka. Id wager that, if his controversy never came about and he simply was fired as GM, hed have been entertained for an analytics position by 31/32 teams

 

[Edmonton East]

Bahahahaha. If this is true, this organization is truly screwed.

Chayka is an idiot. As is anyone who thinks he is this analytics guru. And I said this before it was cool when all of HF adored him as well.

Just because someone slaps analytics on their resume, doesn't mean they know wtf they are talking about. Puck and player tracking analytics are the future. Not this bozo's narrow view of aNaLYTiCs.

 

[Edmonton East]

If a contribution to hockey analytics made one even near-worthy of an NHL GM job, we would still need an explanation of what Chayka's contribution actually was. None of his analytic theories have been properly explained and/or proven to succeed at any level. Chayka did nothing to improve the Coyotes, in fact it was quite the opposite. Chayka was bad at trading and hiring and was sub-par drafting and developing. He was essentially a snake oil salesman who duped a pretty clueless Coyotes ownership into a cushy job and lost it because his unscrupulous nature came to light. John Chayka has no place in the NHL, and certainly not with the Devils.

But but but he slaps analytics next to his name, so he must be a genius!

Much like none of us in the real world have ever worked with someone where we constantly wondered "how the F did this person get that job/title?!"

 

[Ripshot 43]

I feel like it was typical sports media looking for the “story” that will get clicks when this guys took over for the Coyotes. They kept using the “youngest GM” tag line and pushed this guy hard. So basically he got all sorts of rope and slowly hung the Yotes franchise more and more until he was finally let go. I would much rather he be as far away from our team as possible.

 

[RangerDoggo]

Chayka is a con artist. Awful with contracts, awful with trades, and not even all that good with analytics. Kessel is as analytically unfriendly as any in the NHL. I hope he has the good sense to not deal with any of the operations with this team.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I dont recall ever hearing a confirmation that our ownership group hired him

thats why I made the thread. We all had our assumptions based off of logical guesses, but I think the exact reason there hasnt been a confirmation/announcement is because the NHL boys club doesnt like it

or I just missed it

I also heard nothing about him being hired and I've been looking fairly closely ever since it came out that Harris Blitzer wanted to hire him.

 

[Guttersniped]

I also heard nothing about him being hired and I've been looking fairly closely ever since it came out that Harris Blitzer wanted to hire him.

I don’t view Steve Dangle, who seems more like an entertainer than a journalist/insider, as the best source here. His point was just weird too.

We’re far from the most analytics based team (Carolina is probably going to win that with Eric Tulsky as a Assistant GM). Almost every team have as many analysts or more than we do listed in among team employees. “Everyone hates Tyler Dellow” (if that’s who he couldn’t remember) is just odd too.

The reaction to the Hughes contract was… what it should have been? It didn’t seem negative, everyone pointed out we were betting on potential. (I didn’t listen to very much of this and only once, I found it annoying.)

 

[Triumph]

Almost every team have as many analysts or more than we do listed in among team employees. “Everyone hates Tyler Dellow” (if that’s who he couldn’t remember) is just odd too.

I think this is a fair assessment - the old guard knows him as the guy who did Campbell dirty and there's a lot of stats-y people that did not care for his abrasive personality. I think if Dangle has a few sources around the league and if he spends a lot of time on Twitter, he wouldn't be wrong to come to this conclusion.

 

[Guttersniped]

I think this is a fair assessment - the old guard knows him as the guy who did Campbell dirty and there's a lot of stats-y people that did not care for his abrasive personality. I think if Dangle has a few sources around the league and if he spends a lot of time on Twitter, he wouldn't be wrong to come to this conclusion.

I forgot the Campbell thing so that’s true but stats-y people (that I know of) mostly thought Vancouver’s half-hearted attempt to use him and then immediately let him go was was pretty pathetic. I don’t think he’s disliked among them or that’s he’s infamously abrasive (but that’s subjective and it’s not something I particularly thought about).

Dangle was talking about this in terms the reaction to the Hughes in way that didn’t make much sense to me and I still don’t particularly buy it or take Dangle seriously.

And there’s still a question of wherever Chayka actually works for Devils owners. I don’t know if they can “sort of” hire him and not piss Bettman off so I’m skeptical that he works for him while he’s suspended.

If there’s any proof that he works for them in Philly or something other than Dangle it would be different but it’s just this doofus in Toronto rambling.