Sarah McLellan

azcentral sports

The Coyotes appointed John Chayka the franchise’s eighth general manager in May, making the then-26-year-old the youngest to ever hold the position in the NHL.

Since then, he’s been busy drafting prospects, brokering trades and signing free agents.

Now, only days away from his first season at the helm, Chayka is encouraged by the new look and believes the Coyotes are equipped to improve even more.

Question: Has your tenure started off the way you hoped?

Answer: Yeah, I think so. Overall, I think you’re always looking to be better and you’re never satisfied. But at the same time, we set out some goals for ourselves like we have with our team here. We’re hopeful that we achieved them. We wanted to give our group the identity and the belief that they could go and compete every night, and I think they have the roster to do that now. It feels better that the roster comes together, and the players feel a sense of pride in what they’re doing and feel confidence in our organization. In that sense, it’s been good.

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Q: After tweaking the roster over the summer, is there one change you’re most proud of as the season opener approaches?

A: I think we’ll find out October 15. We haven’t gotten on the ice yet. I believe we’ve been able to get players to understand and believe and trust that Arizona is a destination for players. So in that sense, an Alex Goligoski, who was a highly rated free agent, or Jamie McGinn and Luke Schenn takes less to come here. Those are the type of things when people want to be here for the right reason, I think it goes a long way. So that’s what I’m most proud of this summer.

Q: How confident are you that you’ve done enough to make this a competitive roster?

A: I think we addressed a lot of our deficiencies, so holistically we’re strong. We feel like we have the group as a whole that can get that job done. And then the depth, for me, the competition that everyone’s going to push each other and get the most out of each other – those two things give me confidence.

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Q: How has your life changed since becoming GM?

A: You know what? Not a whole lot, actually. I ran businesses before, so I’ve been pretty busy my whole life. Certainly, this is the National Hockey League level so public scrutiny is always going to be higher and that’s part of the fun, too.

Q: Any surreal moments so far on the job?

A: I’m not great at kind of self-reflection in terms of my own achievements. Just kind of nose to the grindstone and get the job done and do it as best as I can and move on. I thought the draft was fun. The draft was something I felt confident in our group. Anytime you feel really well-prepared, I think it goes a long way. I think some things hopefully fell our way that we’ll find out in a few years for sure. We felt like we made the right decisions at the right time, and hopefully that leads to good things.

Q: What was the first trade call you made like?

A: That was Goligoski, so it was a relatively lower-valued asset in terms of a fifth-round pick. So that took some edge off it. But at the same time, it was a risk as well. It was nerve-wracking.

Q: Overall, has it been a relatively smooth transition taking on the role of GM?

A: Very smooth. It’s a great group of people. They’re also motivated to improve their teams. So anytime you’re in the marketplace like that, you already have something in common. You’re trying to consummate a deal that works out for both sides. So that’s the common goal and kind of brings you together to have a good discussion. Obviously, anytime you have things in relation with people, it certainly helps. It’s a really unique group of smart, passionate hockey nuts. It’s good.

Reach the reporter at sarah.mclellan@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8276. Follow her at twitter.com/azc_mclellan.