John Chayka

That's not my understanding.

I think, you know, Austin's invested a lot of his career, his entire NHL career into the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And, you know, I think that's been an affirmative decision on his behalf.

And, you know, I think as he evaluates his career and, you know, what the next decade of his career looks like.

um i think it's important that he feels a connectivity and alignment um he has a similar vision and and and passion that we do and so um you know we'll have those conversations and get together and share notes and honestly i want to be a good listener um you know he's the captain it's his room uh he's been through the ups and downs of this market um

You know, obviously, Matt's is a unique perspective to share as well.

And I'm sure there'll be some good back and forth in that regard.

But I totally understand the perspective of, you know, you only have so many years as a player and it goes by quick, as you guys know.

And, you know, you want to make sure that you feel fully aligned and engaged in what's going on.

And I have no problem having those conversations, sharing our thoughts, learning, seeing if there's a shared common vision and and charting a path forward.

Yeah, I would just share my perspective, which is, you know, we spent some time on this roster this season, you know, walking through the players.

I'd say it's a very small portion of the interview process.

The much larger part of the process was organizational building, you know, a vision for what world class organization looks like, how we can be the best class across, you know, all these different departments and integrate them in a really effective way to create a competitive advantage for the long term for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

And, you know, so as we're doing that and evaluating that right now and trying to find, you know, the best ways to put this thing on solid foundation, not just for my tenure, but hopefully, you know, into the future.

We also believe very strongly that, you know, we owe it to the players first and foremost, the fans, ownership to put the best team on the ice next year.

And, you know, I think you got to do that in a way that's thoughtful and

and and constructive uh and you know this isn't something where we're building a team for one season but at the same time i do think we need to you know continue to push this team ahead uh generate some momentum and and get some positivity back so as far as next year do you think that this team could turn around and be competitive and compete for a stanley cup with some additions or or what are your thoughts on that

think look i think again as i sit here today in may um the season played out and you know you know the results as well as i do and so obviously the the answers we sit here today is that they're not the the contending club that we'd like to be uh i we got a full off season we're gonna go hard uh we're gonna give it everything we got um i'm very committed to that um you know i think we got some world-class players and those players deserve our best efforts to put the best team on the ice

you know, under the constraints and the realities of trying to do that while other 31 teams are trying to do the same.

But it won't be for lack of effort on our side.