The Official Post-Bitch 2025-26 Regular Season Thread

[CH1]

Old boys feeling threatened that their reign is over after the devils hired Mehta and now the Leafs Chayka. Changing of the guard. I love all of these "leaks" and criticism based on talking points that they've heard from other hockey execs.

Mehta is part of a club too — I didn’t hear much squawking about his ascendance.

Ultimately, it’s a choose your nepotism adventure.

The Habs hired Jeff Gorton who hired this agent he really liked and Hughes hired a former client as coach. Hughes and MSL were both incredibly unconventional hires at the time, though it felt organic because of pre existing relationships

People don’t feel that way about Chayka/Sundin, unless they see Tie Domi as some genius rainmaker in the background

This could all work out but I would have liked to see Pelley hire a big dawg like Gilles who then hires his GM

 

[Preston]

Mehta is part of a club too — I didn’t hear much squawking about his ascendance.

Ultimately, it’s a choose your nepotism adventure.

The Habs hired Jeff Gorton who hired this agent he really liked and Hughes hired a former client as coach. Hughes and MSL were both incredibly unconventional hires at the time, though it felt organic because of pre existing relationships

People don’t feel that way about Chayka/Sundin, unless they see Tie Domi as some genius rainmaker in the background

This could all work out but I would have liked to see Pelley hire a big dawg like Gilles who then hires his GM

True that was more of an anti leafs thing. Plenty of squawking about him when it looked like leafs may hire him, but that went away when the devils grabbed him.

The Chayka hate has been around for a decade.

 

[CH1]

The whole “what are analytics, really” is so childish. Like these media guys don’t use data in their regular lives.

 

[Preston]

View: https://x.com/i/status/2049626245776703718

This is my favorite analytics boomer take. If you're gonna be dumb at least be funny about it.

 

[CH1]

Pelley making a bid deal about "data' at his press conference suggests he doesn't get it either.

You should be swimming in it like a fish as a pre condition to staying alive.

 

[Preston]

Pelley making a bid deal about "data' at his press conference suggests he doesn't get it either.

You should be swimming in it like a fish as a pre condition to staying alive.

Well with Pelley, the heavy implication was that he saw how Treliving ran things and was shocked at the lack of data or process. And this time around he wasn't gonna fuck around and was gonna ensure that data is a centerpoint of all decision-making moving forward. I had no issues with that part of his presser. He basically said without saying it explicitly, that the reason he was making this change was because the entire organization was run by vibes, not objectivity.

 

[Aberdeen]

The more hate the Chayka announcement gets, in a perverse way, the more I like it.

 

[CH1]

Sure, but I would have just fired the guy based on the "results weren't there"

 

[Preston]

Sure, but I would have just fired the guy based on the "results weren't there"

I liked that he was forthcoming. It soothed me and made me feel comfortable about where things were headed. It told me he values the right things in a sport where over half the league scoffs at anything on a spreadsheet.

 

[Preston]

The fact that he watched Treliving on a single deadline, identified the clear issue, told us about it and then hired someone opposite of Treliving is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Most execs would see nothing wrong with how Tre managed the Leafs at the deadline, it's probably more common than not. But Pelley identified the issue and corrected it, albeit way too late. He should have gotten involved sooner.

 

[leafman101]

He fired him because the process wasn’t there.

Him being honest about the job requirement just means he was likely being honest in general.

Like I’d be way more concerned about his involvement if he didn’t hire a clear data driven GM like Scott White.

 

[hockeylover]

Well with Pelley, the heavy implication was that he saw how Treliving ran things and was shocked at the lack of data or process. And this time around he wasn't gonna fuck around and was gonna ensure that data is a centerpoint of all decision-making moving forward. I had no issues with that part of his presser. He basically said without saying it explicitly, that the reason he was making this change was because the entire organization was run by vibes, not objectivity.

I gotta say, I find this part of Pelley's version of events to be probably a load of crap.

 

[zeke]

Contracts Situation when he left the coyotes:


C Dvorak (24): $4.45 x5yrs
W Keller (22): $7.15 x8yrs
W Schmaltz (23): $5.85 x7yrs

C Hayton (19): ELC x2yrs
W Garland (24): $0.78 x1yrs
W Crouse (23): $1.53 x2yrs

C Stepan (30): $6.50 x1yrs
W Kessel (33): $6.80 x2yrs
W Grabner (33): $3.35 x1yrs

C Pederson (23): RFA
W Bunting (25): $0.73 x1yrs
W Fischer (23): RFA

W Maccelli (20): ELC x3yrs



D OEL (29): $8.25 x7yrs
D Chychrun (22): $4.60 x 5yrs

D Hjalmarsson (33): $5.00 x1yrs
D Goligoski (35): $5.48 x1yrs

D Demers (32): $4.50 x1yrs
D Oesterle (28): $1.40 x1yrs

D Lyubushkin (26): RFA
D Emberson (20): ELC x3yrs



G Kuemper (30): $4.50 x2yrs
G Raanta (31): $4.25 x1yrs
G Hill (24): RFA



A pretty good young core locked up for good prices, plus some now overpaid vets who used to be good but were all in the final year of their deal (only kessel had one extra year beyond) - though all those vets were guys with careers as productive 1st or 2nd line type players, not bottom liners. only around $40m committed to the young and prime guys past that year.

and no money locked up in bottom line grunts.

 

[CH1]

I liked that he was forthcoming. It soothed me and made me feel comfortable about where things were headed. It told me he values the right things in a sport where over half the league scoffs at anything on a spreadsheet.

I'm not sure that's true....maybe your perception is clouded by the morons that occupy Toronto airwaves.

in Montreal, analytics aren't a big deal, maybe because the GM is an ex player agent -- his job was to literally use numbers to prove that his client is worthy of getting paid a certain number

I think Toronto might be one of the few remaining holdouts in the league --- Don Cherry as genius hockey mind still lingers in the fanbase

 

[LeafGm]

I liked that he was forthcoming. It soothed me and made me feel comfortable about where things were headed. It told me he values the right things in a sport where over half the league scoffs at anything on a spreadsheet.

Sure does! Including:

 

[zeke]

I’m looking forward to when you eventually come around, accept that Chayka is keeping Brooby and then start furiously trying to spin that into being a good #DataDriven decision.

yes i famously tried to spin treliving as a good hire, did not at all keep #We'reSoFucked as my sig since the day he was hired. I just spin everything positively for sure.

maybe he keeps brooby around as a sacrifical lamb until his preferred choice comes available. could happen.

 

[Preston]

I'm not sure that's true....maybe your perception is clouded by the morons that occupy Toronto airwaves.

in Montreal, analytics aren't a big deal, maybe because the GM is an ex player agent -- his job was to literally use numbers to prove that his client is worthy of getting paid a certain number

I think Toronto might be one of the few remaining holdouts in the league --- Don Cherry as genius hockey mind still lingers in the fanbase

I think it's true and I think it's the main driver of the leagues lack of parity despite the salary cap. The competitive advantage largely comes from the handful of teams that leans on analytics, more than anything else. I mean it's pretty obvious who does and who doesn't based on the moves that are made.

 

[Preston]

I wonder what @LeafOfFaith and @waywarddp think of this hire!

 

[zeke]

Pelley making a bid deal about "data' at his press conference suggests he doesn't get it either.

You should be swimming in it like a fish as a pre condition to staying alive.

granted i didn't watch the presser but from the quotes posted is sure seemed like he was flabbergasted by the lack of basic best practices processes going on in the decision making.

 

[Preston]

Exciting day for the 6 people who aren't doomsdaying this hire!