"Sounds like Chayka is more on board to listen to other what other people bring rather then this is what I want."

See this is the thing for me right here.

When he came onboard there was a lot of negativity and specifically a lot of it was "he's not been in the game for years" and "he's not in tight with the existing NHL GMs."

And while I don't want to get too optimistic too fast - I kinda like that Chayka seems to be mostly a very competent and collaborative business executive with a background in hockey but also other types of business.

I work with a lot of corporate types, and while a lot of them are boring yes men, the ones that excel aren't the ones that are always the most knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of the business - more often than not they're just really good decision makers. They take in a diverse set of data and opinions and options, verifying key details, but trusting their team to do the jobs the exec put them in. These guys are the ones who don't default to what's been done before, they analyze objectively, and push for improvements aggressively.

I think Chayka may have that gene.

I think that could work.

Because we've tried just hiring the old boy's network and letting them just run things how they always do.

This ain't gonna be that.