Peter Chiarelli Connected to the Arizona Coyotes GM Job?

The situation in Arizona keeps getting stranger and stranger. On Sunday, both the Coyotes and former General Manager John Chayka released statements about his status with the organization, officially confirming he had left the team.

The Coyotes issued the following statement:

John Chayka has quit as the General Manager and President of Hockey Operations of the Arizona Coyotes.

The Club is disappointed in his actions and his timing as the Coyotes prepare to enter the NHL’s hub city of Edmonton, where the team will begin post-season play for the first time since 2012. Chayka has chosen to quit on a strong and competitive team, a dedicated staff, and the Arizona Coyotes fans, the greatest in the NHL.

The Club is moving forward and has named Steve Sullivan as Interim General Manager. He has the full support of the organization, including team ownership, executive leadership, players and coaches.

The Club will have no further comment on the matter, as the Club remains focused on the opportunity to pursue a Stanley Cup.

The team has called him a quitter and a liar and the hockey world is wondering what must have happened that Chayka would simply up and quit right before his team headed into the play-in round of this year’s NHL postseason.

Not long after, Chayka released his own statement on the matter:

John Chayka also issued a statement regarding his departure. 👀

(via @CraigSMorgan) pic.twitter.com/I1B1sGQiUe

— theScore (@theScore) July 26, 2020

The past four years have been the most enjoyable of my life. In Arizona, I became a husband and a father, while working as hard as possible to make the Coyotes a Stanley Cup contender. I love our players, coaches, staff and fans and I very much wish I could be with the team in Edmonton. Sadly, the situation created by ownership made that an impossibility.

That’s all I intend to say on this matter for now. A fuller, more detailed explanation may be necessary in the near future. Until then, I wish the Coyotes good luck in Edmonton, and thank every member of Our Pack for the support shown to Kathryn, out daughter and myself over the years. Also, I want to congratulate Steve Sullivan as he steps into a new role. We’ve worked side-by-side for years. He is a great person and a terrific hockey mind.”

John Chayka

Steve Sullivan Named Interim GM

So, as quickly as the story started to become clearer that Chayka had quit, a replacement was named. Steve Sullivan was given the gig as the new GM in Arizona on an interim basis.

A smart hockey guy, that decision would be fine if it ended there. But it doesn’t.

Word now is that Peter Chiarelli is in the mix and connected to the Coyotes organization.

Chiarelli and the Coyotes?

Where this gets so odd is that Chiarelli is no stranger to Taylor Hall, who Chiarelli famously traded out of Edmonton. Part of Chiarelli’s undoing as GM for the Oilers was his history of awful trades, (Hall included) and the Coyotes just recently sat down with Hall to talk an extension.

More than one scribe has connected Chiarelli as The Athletic’s Scott Burnside adds:

“Several sources indicated former Boston and Edmonton GM Peter Chiarelli is someone league officials would like to help find his way back to the NHL after a disastrous turn in Edmonton and think that Arizona would be a good landing place.”

source – ‘Could Peter Chiarelli really end up in Arizona with Taylor Hall? Mind boggling’ – David Staples – Edmonton Journal – 07/27/2020

If there’s truth to the Chiarelli rumors, one has to assume that meeting with Hall didn’t go well. And, that makes sense considering speculation the team low-balled Hall on their offer. John Gambadoro of Arizona of 98.7 FM in Phoenix is now reporting, “Heard the offer to Taylor Hall was 5 years for about $7 mill per year so roughly $35 million.”

Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to cut it.

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