John Chayka

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.

And, you know, as we get into training camp, you know, I'm happy to address that question with more specificity.

But, you know, I can say anything in May, as you know.

It's more about what it looks like as we enter the season.

Hey guys, congratulations.

John, this one's for you.

And it's not necessarily about first overall, just curious about your drafting strategy.

Are you the best player available?