Leafs fire head coach Sheldon Keefe
Three days after Sheldon Keefe fell on his sword, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving gave it a final twist.
In news that shouldn’t have come as a surprise to even the most casual of Leafs fans, Treliving on Thursday morning fired Keefe.
“Today’s decision was difficult,” Treliving said in a statement released by the team. “Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal.
“We thank Sheldon for his hard work and dedication to the organization over the last nine years, and wish him and his family all the very best.”
The firing ended a 4 ½ year run by Keefe that was high on regular-season success and low on playoff wins.
It’s a formula that doesn’t add up in professional sports and Keefe paid the price. When he met with media on Monday, Keefe seemed to have an idea this was coming, as much as he would have welcomed another chance to get it right.
“We’re in the results business and we didn’t get results,” Keefe said. “We haven’t met expectations. As a head coach, I take responsibility for that.
“My job as a head coach is to find solutions and chart a path ahead for the group to come through and need to succeed at the most important time of year. We haven’t done that.”
Treliving now gets to hire his own guy, as the saying goes in pro sports, and there’s no shortage of candidates.
Much speculation has linked the Leafs and Craig Berube, who coached the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019. Berube, who also coached the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013-15, was fired by the Blues in December.
Among Berube’s many stops in a playing career in the National Hockey League that lasted more 1,000 games was part of one season with the Leafs in 1991-92.
If not Berube, others who could be considered include Todd Mclellan, Gerard Gallant, Jay Woodcroft, Dean Evason and Joel Quenneville, though he requires NHL clearance.
No matter who the new coach is, crucial in his role will be a solid working relationship with Auston Matthews. The expectation is that Matthews, whose four-year extension starts next season, will be the Leafs’ next captain.
The future of John Tavares is to be determined, perhaps, but with one year remaining on his contract, the time will be right to have a change in the captaincy, whether that’s before the 2024-25 season or heading into 2025-26.
Keefe grew as a coach after taking over from the fired Mike Babcock in November 2019, shaping the Leafs into a club that took its defensive responsibilities more seriously.
There was a slip in that regard this past season, but how many times did we hear Treliving say that the defence corps was a work in progress?
In leading the Leafs to 102 points in 2023-24, Keefe got a lot out of the club, considering the injuries (only William Nylander played in all 82 games) and goaltending inconsistencies that were issues.