Barn Burner: Boomer & Pinder with Rhett Warrener - Leafs Fans… How Do We Feel About This Hire?? | BB Clips

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

Boomer, Pinder and Rhett react to the Maple Leafs making a shocking hire in John Chayka as their new general manager, a move that comes with no shortage of baggage. The guys dive into why Chayka remains one of the more polarizing names in hockey circles, from his abrupt exit in Arizona to the questions many still have about how he operates behind the scenes. It turns into a full conversation on whether this is a bold, smart swing by Toronto—or a massive mistake by a franchise that can’t afford to get this one wrong.Video Link: https://youtu.be/GfXoDjUKFnk#nhl #nhlshorts #nhlplayoffs #nhlpredictions #nhlhockey #nhlpicks #stanleycup #stanleycupfinal #torontomapleleafs #toronto CHECK OUT OUR STUFF ⬇️BARN BURNER MERCHhttps://nationgear.ca/collections/shirts/FlamesnationBARN BURNER SHORTS https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj_bcGtvvo-cW2DHEDZ6dEO5ePDmlhZc9&si=jo8iNGxT4ImhS2Y8📲 Follow us:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fnbarnburner/X (Twitter): https://x.com/barnburnerfn?lang=en🎧 Listen on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/barn-burner-boomer-pinder-with-rhett-warrener/id1648562889Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Mc6Qd5U22R2zbMlQ7RxIiProducer: Jack Haverstock Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now, you were a proponent of this guy years ago. Here are my thoughts on this. It would be incredibly impressive to become a general manager of any pro sports team in your mid-20s. You would have to have done a lot of things in your life. They were quite impressive at a younger age than Jack is now. And it would also probably be a mistake to put someone in that position at that age, even if they were the next coming of Albert Einstein. I don't think this was a risk the Leafs needed to take.

I don't think necessarily it blows up in their face, but it certainly isn't the safest move. And it's a guy that clearly a lot of people are out to get and has put himself in spots he shouldn't have put himself in when he was running testing outside of the combine. I like some of the moves he made. Some of them were a disaster. The whole organization was under a bloody circus tent.

it's not the higher I was expecting. There were safer moves out there, and most GMs are going to be better in their second spot. It can't be as bad as his first one, or this franchise is in big trouble. John Chaka announced GM in Toronto. Along with Matt Sundin, who will be the,

um, yeah, VP of this definitely isn't a PR move. Senior executive advisor. Hockey ops. And so he's going to, going to report to chike

yeah this does feel like well they're going to hate this hire so let's get somebody that the everyone's just kind of sand the edges awesome very likable lovable guy shakea not so much he really kind of

pissed people off pissed people off um did no one else want the job like you said there's other safer hires Yeah, like I know the name that got a lot of run was Mike Gillis, who was at the helm for that when Vancouver went to the cup finals. And it sounded, there was rumors that if Chica was involved, he wasn't interested in which that's still a very polarizing guy, apparently.

I just go back, we talked about it's not to bring Vancouver in it, but what's the more attractive job? Is it to GM the Canucks? Is it to GM the Leafs? I don't know the Leafs, you got, you got, you're, Two superstars. You're maybe going to have to deal with trading one of them here in the next calendar year. You don't have a Patterson problem in Toronto.

Cap keeps going up. I'm a million miles away, but I'm sensing on how you're kind of talking about, it just does not feel like great times are ahead in the immediate future for the Leafs. And the one thing I think when we talk to Noodles and Dragher that made a lot of sense was you need a strong president and a guy that's been around the Leafs. a bunch because of how huge that organization is, how hot the market is, to take some pressure off theoretically one guy doing that whole job, like the Shanahan job. And they didn't create it. Like, that's not what Matt Sundin is. And to be fair, it's like there's lots of former players and organizations that come back and work in management. But most of them start as special advisors.

And then AGMs. And then they move their way up. Matt Sundin hasn't done anything in the organization and sign autographs and show up and smile and kiss babies, which is great. But like, what is his job description? It's nothing he's been working on for seven years. What did they say? Or whenever he retired. He'll watch games, so I have an opinion. And he's certainly probably a great hockey mind, but it's not like Craig Conner,

or it's like, I've spent the last decade learning the ropes. How does this organization work? Where are our weaknesses in scouting? How does the cap work? What about all this legal language and contracts? blah, blah, blah, blah. Matt Sandin's been living in Sweden. This would be similar to the, again,

yeah, and he's a special advisor, not a VP of anything, right? Titles, who cares? And I think what you said nailed it, which is the, this guy's going to be a polarizing selection. So let's bring back your number 13, Matt Sandin. So Dean will serve as a strategic advisor and provide support.

across hockey operations with a focus on team culture, player development, and leadership support. So it's word salad is what he is. It doesn't, yeah. It sounds like Keith Pelly word salad. It feels Pelly-ish. Yes. Which is not to say it can't work.

Just Jake us some slack. I mean, I don't know. I know. It was so dysfunctional there. And there was a lot of things that he did that were dumb. But it's just tough to separate. That might have been the worst owner since, like, like Harold Ballard in the NHL that he worked for.

So it's never easy to parse through, well, the owner said, screw it, you're working these guys out anywhere. It was his, I don't know. We don't know. Quit as GM and president of hockey ops of the coyotes in 2020. He was suspended for that. He was trying to get hired by their teams, which if it wasn't working for that one A hole, you'd be like, what the hell's going on here?

But Morello was such an absolute clown. Youngest GM in NHL history, he was hired at 26 back in 2016, elevated to president in 2017. And they were running a shoestring budget and he had started staff elites with his sister, which was a multi-million dollar revenue stats company. It's like, that's a press of shit for 26-year-old. Jack hasn't started any multimillion-dollar companies.

He's told us about. Guys. No, poor Jack. But it was clearly too much too soon. And most organizations wouldn't do it. When you're the clown show on a shoestring budget, maybe this guy will be RGG for a half-nors. I think back to what you said is the most important thing.

Why? is he so good that we can't miss out on this? And if he's been so good, where's he been the last five years? He's been out of work for like, now maybe he's, you could argue, okay, he's been working in with his stats company in the sports space. Okay, maybe. He's not been GM. He's not been GMing.

He's not been calling agents. Have you heard his name? Not really, no. They'll have with pressure to. Vancouver and whoever else is looking for G. I don't know how far around the road he got with Nashville or Jersey. Jersey or Vancouver, the other openings that are slowly starting to fill up. It's not sunny meta.

It's not. He's got multiple rings and has been working in the league on a winning franchise, learning what it takes to hang banners in the best place to do it. Florida three finals last three years. That's not this resume. It is weird. And I bet she's really smart, but this is a risk that they don't need to take when you're worth how many billion, the most valuable franchise in hockey?

Why can't you hire a present too? How about Zundeen? Sure. Yes. And Chaka. And now get a president. Yes. Because it's not like,

like this is one of the more difficult jobs. You don't have to name that Cheka, freaking GM. I mean, you're the assistant. Sure, if you want, yeah. But they didn't bring in the established, calming hockey man force that we all expect. Who would it be, though?

I mean, it could be Gillis, but. The Shanahan type guy? That's the thing. Who's, that said, you know, Bill Zeno's very widely regarded as a great GM today. He was an assistant with Columbus and probably could have. An agent before that. You know, that sort of thing.

You don't know who is going to be. Maybe it will be. Maybe he's learned a great check has learned a great deal for what happened in Arizona. And like you said, we don't know. He's clearly a very smart. What kind of guardrails was he under because of the financial constraints and all of that? We'll find out. But it sure feels like it's the center of the universe.

The whole Toronto, this doesn't feel like how. It feels. How lucky the Leafs are to get this guy. No, it's not. It's a risk. It's not a, they got their man. No, no. And if they had hired Sunny Mehta,

I would have felt that way, to be honest, because the resume is quite a bit different. And they did go out of their way to talk about data. So you knew that there was going to be, at least in one of these hiring, someone that was really good with numbers. And that's what Jake has made a ton of dough. his life before becoming a gym. Should they just have kept dubus in the end?

I should have probably just kept. You look what he did in Pittsburgh. It's been pretty good. Well, good luck, Leifes. What did Dubus do so wrong there? The cap flattened when at the worst time for him. And that's when he had to start attaching first to guys like Patrick Marlon was it also?

That turns into Seth Jarvis and things like that. Was it also not the deal that he gave to Matthews were basically? Oh, they did give away though. Everyone's doing it now, but that was the first. It was almost like they were buddy, buddy. But walking him to. UFA, not buying any UFA years, but giving him. He basically got UFA money coming out of entry level,

and they walked him right to UFA first year possible. And that was the first time we've seen that movie. And you could argue it was coming anyway, but he was the first. So no one else did it before, before Dubas did. How many GMs and coaches have they had under this core? A lot of coaches. Babcock, Brewery, Heaf.

Sounds like they're going to roll with Berube another year and that feels off. Like it wasn't a fit. Why would it fit now? Or are you just saving a sacrificial animal for next year? If it doesn't go well, we'll take you off the GM. It's the other thing is if the shine and luster is off being the GM, knowing

the work, the shit work that's ahead, the tough decisions and you're going to be the one that trades Austin Matthews, do you want to be the coach? how enticing is it for an established veteran coach to you're the Leafs you're going to have to pay top dollar and that's what they've been comfy doing and throughout their history we'll give you seven million okay I'm there because Cassidy's kind of the guy now right I think that's the biggest name left. DeBore's gone to the island yeah we'll see what happens to someone like torts like is he re-up is he in the is the brand rebuilt a bit because everyone thought he's a good coach I think he's prickly to the media but his players love him way more than that well let me ask you a tough one if you're Cassie and you've got some offers on the table and you get down to the final two one is to coach the leaps one is to coach the oilers which one are you taken oilers right you have to live in edmonton but you've got a chance to do something there that's a massive it feels like a math you could trade matthews get some great get some great players you could turn around i guess but it feels like who i don't even know if you can hand with hey there is that where first of all he'd have the no trade right he's going to control the entire process and MLSC has no interest in it. They're calling this a retool or reload.

They're not moving the start. Well, they might be right. Their goaltending was beat to piss all year. They were injured the whole season, weren't they? I don't know if it's any good. Both goalies are hurt, and they both had really good years last year. Right. Cap keeps going up.

What if you draft fifth overall, you get a stud defense. Yeah, maybe. And then the flip side is if you slide back to six and one of these guys ass out, you're like, this could take forever. Oh, so who knows? Who knows? I just, it's a little bit. It's a little bit like the Oilers where you do have some.

It's a pretty valuable assets there. Big coals too. I don't like it. I don't think they're ever going to pull through. And I've never seen them play like they give a shit to win. But I would have more faith. And it's less about Nylander, but I'd have more faith in McDavid and Drysidal than I would in Matthews.

Yep. And the last three years of playoffs makes it loud in Claylander. Yeah. Yeah. When you needed big games for the Oilers, guess who went and got it done for you. Okay, we'll move off the Toronto thing. Nice side tangent, boys. By the way, he was like 26. How many years ago? Yeah. He's looking older now.

Apparently sits on a board that owns a bunch of Timmy's and Wendy's. So they went from now. We'll dig fell in a long.