David Lehanski is the Executive Vice President of Business Development & Innovation for the National Hockey League, responsible for leading the League’s technology and innovation initiatives through the establishment of corporate partnerships, state-of-the-art technology solutions and new revenue.
Lehanski joined the NHL in 2005 and has been instrumental in building the most advanced technology solutions in sports. He has been a key driver in establishing the League’s world class technology infrastructure through creating partnerships with best-in-class tech companies including AWS, Apple, Extreme Networks, Presidio, Rogers, SAP, ServiceNow, Sportradar, VAST Data and Verizon. These partnerships and tremendous advancements in technology and innovation have not only well positioned the NHL to expand and advance both the game and the fan experience, but they have also helped to fuel the League’s remarkable business growth and record revenues.
Over the past several seasons, Lehanski has been focused on developing new solutions with the League’s technology providers to transform and enhance the game for Players, coaches, officials, media partners, and most importantly, the fans. At the forefront, he has been one of the key leaders in the development, implementation and monetization of the NHL’s innovative Puck and Player Tracking technology (NHL EDGE), which was deployed in all 32 NHL arenas during the 2021-22 season. NHL EDGE has enabled new digital fan engagement innovations, including the launch of the NHL EDGE advanced stats section on NHL.com. The system received a prestigious Alpha Award for Best Sports Innovation at the 2022 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and was also used to power two editions of the NHL Big City Greens Classic, the first-of-its-kind live simulation of any sport using tracking technology in North America, created via a collaboration with the NHL, ESPN / Disney and Beyond Sports in March 2023 and 2024, as well as the first-ever MultiVersus NHL Face-Off featuring premium IP from across the Warner Bros. Discovery universe. These live animated game broadcasts represented the next phase in the evolution of the League’s Puck and Player Tracking technology, with NHL EDGE data enabling an entire NHL game to be recreated in real time inside a virtual environment, featuring 3D animated Players whose movements synced with what was happening on the ice in live games.
Lehanski was also instrumental in the launch of NHL Blast on Roblox, a dynamic metaverse experience on Roblox which reimagines the game of hockey and serves as a central metaverse hub for the global hockey community to connect around their love for the sport. NHL Blast is currently the #1 original branded sports experience on Roblox. Under Lehanski’s leadership, the League has also introduced AWS’s Shot and Save analytics, Face-Off Probability and Opportunity Analysis advanced analytics, as well as the in-arena deployment of both Verizon’s and Rogers’ (Canada) cutting-edge 5G technology. He was also helped lead the NHL, in partnership with AWS to execute the first fully cloud-based live professional sports broadcast in North America on March 22, 2024 (Carolina Hurricanes @ Washington Capitals).
Lehanski was instrumental in the creation and implementation of the NHL’s groundbreaking in-arena coaching system introduced in 2017 - in collaboration with Apple - delivering real-time video highlights to coaches on the benches of every NHL arena. He also helped to develop the next phase of the NHL’s in-arena coaching system with the launch of the SAP-NHL Coaching Insights App for iPad, providing access to real-time, customized data and player statistics during the game on home and away benches in all 32 arenas. This season, Lehanski helped to deploy the newest phase of the system with Apple and Presidio: Apple Watches and the NHL Watch Comms App for on-ice officials. The NHL Watch Comms App provides real-time, in-game situational communications on Apple watches worn by NHL officials during games.
Lehanski also worked with NHL Chief Business Officer and Senior Executive Vice President Keith Wachtel as a strategic consultant for the NHL’s award-winning Digitally Enhanced Dasherboard (DED) technology, an advanced approach to dynamic dasherboard advertising that launched at the start of the 2022-23 season. The DED system allows for the digital replacement of camera-visible arena dasherboards within local, national, and international NHL game broadcasts, ushering in the next wave of innovation to create new opportunities for the League, its Clubs and their media and corporate partners.
Inside the NHL, Lehanski leads the NHL’s internal Innovation Team. Made up of internal experts from business development, strategy and information technology, the Innovation Team helps to advance the game of hockey by developing and implementing technology-driven solutions focused on the business and the game. Under Lehanski’s leadership, the Innovation Team has hosted three Technology Showcases – one during CES in Las Vegas in 2019 at T-Mobile Arena showcasing Puck and Player Technology, the second in 2022 at Prudential Center in New Jersey, demonstrating how the League can leverage 5G technology, and the most recent in March 2023 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, exploring new experiences leveraging cloud technology. Each showcase was a pilot of futuristic technology solutions being developed by the NHL in collaboration with several leading technology providers to enhance the in-arena and at-home viewing experience.
Before joining the NHL, Lehanski served as Vice President of Marketing Solutions at Clear Channel Advantage where he worked with Fortune 500 advertisers/marketers to develop, sell, and activate fully integrated media/marketing solutions that leveraged all of Clear Channel’s assets. Previously, Lehanski was the co-founder and Vice President of HallOfSports.com, an online company focused on the distribution of sports memorabilia and collectibles with a long-term goal of consolidating the industry. He also spent several years as a consultant on the agency side at SFX Sports and Clarion Sports & Entertainment.
Lehanski was awarded Executive of the Year at the 2024 SBJ (Sports Business Journal) Tech Awards, and was named to SportsBusiness Journal’s Forty Under 40 Class of 2012, recognizing executives for excellence and innovation in their industry before the age of 40. He earned a B.A. with a major in economics from Bowdoin College and currently resides in Ridgewood, NJ with his wife Alison and two sons, Eddie and Leo.
