John Chayka

And he was friends with a lot of our players and he was always around.

And so I just got to know him through that.

I was also lucky to spend some time with his family.

Again, I'm just in the area.

wonderful people uh world-class people really you know you know tells a story of how austin was raised and i think that matters when you're talking about a challenge like toronto um you know i think as time's gone by you know i know judd i know again his dad and spent a lot of time around the group but yeah i'd say this is a different position and we're going to build a different relationship and he's the captain of toronto maple leafs he holds a big stake in everything we do uh and i want to go and listen and hear what he has to say

Yeah, I think Austin's ultimate goal is the same as ours.

So it's a shared goal, common goal.

And it's both Matt and I, our job to meet with him and understand his perspective.

Again, we're joining.

He's been here.

He's the captain.

He's got a good feel for things.

We want to hear his view and hear how he thinks about things and what he thinks needs to be improved.

And then we're going to share our vision as well.

And, you know, Matt's and I have a lot of ideas on things.

You know, Matt's from being a captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, being in the locker room, you know, being a successful NHL player, you know, the hardest working guy, the leader, the most humble.

You know, and I think on my side, you know, a lot of thoughts around roster construction, team building, and, you know, not just for, you know, one day or one move or one season.

Like, we want to show him a long-term vision that can get him excited.

I think it's important when you get into the playoffs that you get a lot of versatility.

I think the teams that are winning now can play games in a lot of different ways.