Sheldon Keefe only has one-year remaining on his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which means he’s coaching for his job right now.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs season ended last year, Sheldon Keefe seemed like the logical person to be fired, yet it was Kyle Dubas who left the organization. The idea of firing Keefe didn’t mean that he did a terrible job as the coach, but that felt like the easiest fix.
Kyle Dubas did a fantastic job acquiring talent and putting the best team forward, yet this roster only won one playoff round. It was one more than they’d won in 19 years, so it was an accomplishment, but the Leafs still fell short of the ultimate goal: winning a Stanley Cup.
As we enter another season with a similar cast of characters, it’s possible that the same voice could turn into the same result.
Keefe was a nice change of pace from Mike Babcock, but it’s now been four years since he’s been hired and he hasn’t done much more than what Babcock did. He’s been given a fantastic team, yet they haven’t been able to advance further than the second round.
Since you can’t trade all of the players and the core-four seem like they’re staying put, for at least another year, Keefe could be the odd-man out and it could be sooner than later.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Keefe is Coaching For His Job This Year
The Toronto Maple Leafs never have issues when it comes to burning money, so even if Keefe had 10 years left on a deal, they wouldn’t be afraid to fire him, but since he has only one-year remaining, it makes it much more likely he’s on his last legs.
When Toronto fired Babcock, they did it because Dubas had always wanted him gone, but was vetoed by Brendan Shanahan. However, after a quick slump to start the season, Dubas was given the green-light to make the decision and bring in Keefe.
Keefe has brought the team to the playoffs every year and has been a fantastic regular season coach, but his potential inexperience has cost the team over the years. With Brad Treliving newly hired, he could be looking at bringing his own coach if things go south.
Could someone like Claude Julien be waiting in the wings? Or maybe that coach is already on the bench, like Guy Boucher?
Either way, if the Leafs get off to a bad start, Treliving is going to do everything he can to give this team a spark and that could mean firing Keefe. There are plenty of examples of team’s firing coaches midway through the season who win the Stanley Cup, so even if it happens, it doesn’t mean that Toronto’s season is over.
In fact, it could be the spark that they need to get this team over the edge. Obviously, nobody is rooting for Keefe to get fired because that would mean the team stunk for the first 30 games, but it is something to think about.