Early on Tuesday afternoon, renowned NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe would return for the following season.
Many fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are unhappy with this move.
But in reality, it’s really not that bad.
I’ll tell you why.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Why Brining Keefe Back Isn’t THAT Bad
Since taking over as the Leafs head coach in November of 2019, Keefe has coached them to a very strong 166-71-30 record, good for a .678 points percentage.
In Keefe’s 3 full seasons as Leafs head coach, the Buds have the 4th most wins in the NHL over that span as well.
Keefe has shown to be a strong regular-season coach (see: stats above), as well as a good coach for developing young players. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, who were all in their early 20s when Keefe arrived, have done much better under Keefe as opposed to Mike Babcock, who seemed to be disliked by every Leafs player at the time.
Keefe’s main criticism, however, is his ability to coach in the playoffs. In every single playoff matchup he’s been in as bench boss of the Leafs, he has been outcoached. This includes the series win over Tampa Bay, where even though the Leafs won, Keefe was not the main reason why.
Keefe has also made some questionable decisions when it comes to ice time, most notably, playing Justin Holl as opposed to Timothy Liljegren. More recently, he sat Michael Bunting in a crucial game 5 in the playoffs, which the Leafs ended up losing.
His lineups were sometimes questionable, and it’s worth asking just what he’s been thinking when it comes to Timothy Liljegren.
However, even with all the criticisms, I can understand the decision to keep him around, and bringing him back is not the worst thing in the world.
Realistically, there aren’t many (if any) better coaches around on the market right now. So even if Brad Treliving decided to fire him, would he find a quality replacement? Would he even find a replacement, to begin with?
In short, I don’t mind this decision, Sheldon Keefe is a solid coach who the players seem to like.
However, he will have a short leash next season. As soon as the Leafs go on a bad run, that might be it for Keefe in “the 6ix”.
We’ll see how he does next season.