GLENDALE, ARIZONA --- Arizona Coyotes Majority Owner, Chairman and Governor Alex Meruelo announced today that the Coyotes have signed President of Hockey Operations and General Manager John Chayka to a long-term extension. As per club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

"We are extremely pleased to sign John to a long-term contract extension," said Meruelo. "John is one of the brightest and hardest-working general managers in the entire NHL and over the past four seasons, he has done an excellent job of rebuilding our franchise and transforming the Coyotes into a contender. I am fully confident that John is the right person to lead us moving forward and help us bring the Stanley Cup to Arizona."

"As we continue in our mission to make the Coyotes one of the premier franchises in the National Hockey League and in all of professional sports, John's visionary leadership in building our team is a foundational bedrock of this pursuit," said Coyotes President and CEO Ahron Cohen. "John's intellect, grit, entrepreneurial spirit and creativity are world class, and I know we have the right person at the helm to bring great days ahead here in Arizona for our Coyotes family."

"I am very grateful to the Meruelo family for believing in our vision for the Coyotes franchise," said Chayka. "This is a testament to our entire hockey operations staff for the work they've done to get this club on track. We look forward to continuing to build on our foundation in order to reach our ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup."

Chayka is currently in his fourth season with the Coyotes as General Manager and was promoted to President of Hockey Operations on July 12, 2017. He was named General Manager on May 5, 2016. At 26-years old, he became the youngest general manager in NHL and North American major sports history.

Since taking over as the Coyotes General Manager in 2016, the 30-year-old Chayka has completely reshaped the Coyotes roster by acquiring numerous key players through trades including forwards Phil Kessel, Nick Schmaltz, Derek Stepan, Carl Soderberg, Lawson Crouse and Vinnie Hinostroza. Chayka also acquired defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson, Jason Demers and Jordan Oesterle and goaltenders Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper. In addition, Chayka signed free agents Alex Goligoski and Michael Grabner and drafted forwards Clayton Keller and Barrett Hayton along with defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

Chayka restructured the Coyotes hockey operations department by adding Steve Sullivan and Lindsay Hofford as assistant general managers, Scott Walker and Jake Goldberg as assistants to the GM, Brad Rossen as director of statistical analysis, Rick Tocchet as head coach, John MacLean and Phil Housley as assistant coaches and Corey Schwab as goaltending coach. He also hired numerous new pro and amateur scouts and bolstered the Coyotes player development program by hiring Mark Bell.

Prior to joining the Coyotes, Chayka co-founded and served as Director of Hockey Operations at Stathletes Inc. since 2009. Stathletes is a hockey analytics firm that tracks data through an intensive video analysis process and breaks down the game to provide objective insight into player and team performance tendencies.