TORONTO — If this was the last time Sheldon Keefe stepped behind a microphone as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, he came out with his head held high.
Placed in what must have been an awkward position, speaking to reporters during Monday’s locker cleaning session without any formal assurance that he would be back behind the team’s bench next season, Keefe both took responsibility for a seven-game first-round loss to Boston. The Bruins and the projected confidence in his ability to ensure this doesn’t happen again next year.
“I believe in myself a lot,” he said. “I love coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now more than ever, I believe in myself and our team and that I will win and our team will win.
If he will have this opportunity, it is THE burning question left hanging during this window before we hear from team management. Originally, it was scheduled to take place Thursday, but the team announced Monday evening that availability had been moved to Friday, with general manager Brad Treliving, team president Brendan Shanahan and president and CEO management of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Keith Pelley all ready to be present. presence.
This is a notable change from how the Leafs have handled their end-of-season media duties in the past and will only fuel speculation that Keefe’s future is still up for discussion.
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Although he remains under contract through 2025-26, after signing a two-year extension last August that still hasn’t officially taken effect, Keefe may not be able to avoid the line of fire. Replacing him is the easiest major move the organization could make this offseason since its five highest-paid players all have contracts that include no-movement clauses.
It would also fit a trend that has seen 17 of Keefe’s colleagues fired by NHL teams in the last 13 months alone.
Due to this unprecedented turnover, a number of veteran coaches are currently available for hire, including Craig Berube, Todd McLellan and Gerard Gallant.
Even though Keefe posts a regular season points percentage that eclipses each of these men – his .665 is the highest of any coach in NHL history with at least 300 games of experience – they all have a resume vitae which includes much more success in the Stanley championship. Cup qualifiers.
That’s essentially what Leafs management needs to think about when making their coaching decision for next year: To what extent is Keefe ultimately responsible for his group’s inability to turn a strong regular season into a long playoff run?
This has been a recurring theme during his five playoff appearances, four of which ended in a first-round loss. The Leafs have scored more than two goals in just one of their last 14 playoff games, despite a team loaded with several elite offensive talents. In this latest series loss to the Bruins, they generated a league-worst 1.71 goals per game while going 1-for-21 on the power play.
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“Early in the series, we didn’t have any problems,” Keefe said. “We were generating a lot (of chances). We led the league in shots and rebounds in the interior zone and we received a lot of pucks in the first games of the series. Those dried up after that, but we were also playing a lot better defensively and didn’t necessarily need as much offense to win games.
“I think the level of patience we showed in these games is ultimately what it takes to win in the playoffs.”
In fact, Keefe thinks they lack a focus to move the entire conversation around their group. If they had found a way to eke out an overtime victory in Game 7 rather than allowing David Pastrnak to end their season on a set play that surprised Toronto defenders, they would have advanced with three straight 2-1 victories and “then quickly the narrative ‘The Leafs have now figured out how to play close games and win close games,'” Keefe said.
“Come from behind. Show the fight. All those kinds of things that excite you. I came out of Game 6 feeling as good with the Toronto Maple Leafs as I did at this position. It was because of the way we played and the way we came together.
This is essentially the second spring in a row where his future remains up in the air.
Keefe went through an exhaustive process after Treliving replaced his former boss, Kyle Dubas, that included 17 hours of meetings over three days last June. He essentially had to convince a general manager with whom he had no prior relationship that he was still the right person for the role.
“It’s happening because I think we have a very good coach here,” Treliving said after giving Keefe a two-year extension last summer. “His regular season record proved it. What he has done in his young career here puts him in very good company in terms of coaches past and present.
“The more I went through this process with Sheldon, the more it made total sense to do something, take care of him and put this behind us.”
Keefe is the fifth-longest tenured coach in the NHL and the first three all won a Stanley Cup with their current teams: Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche.
Rod Brind’Amour sits at No. 4 and has guided the Carolina Hurricanes to at least one playoff victory in the six years he has coached them. They are still alive right now and will face the New York Rangers in the second round.
Keefe only has one series win to show for his time with the Leafs, but believes the team actually performed better overall in this year’s first-round loss to Boston than in last year’s six-game win over Tampa Bay, which included three overtime victories. .
“I loved the determination we showed in this series in Games 5 and 6, especially,” Keefe said. “It gave us a chance to make Game 7. But it’s clearly not enough and that’s OK with me.”
So he’s waiting to find out if he’ll be the man looking for solutions next year.
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(Photo: Nick Lachance / Getty Images)