Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving announced that the team signed Head Coach Sheldon Keefe to a multi-year contract extension on Wednesday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were entering the final season of Keefe’s current contract.
Many thought Treliving would let the season play out and see how things go before committing to Keefe long-term.
Treliving feels that Keefe is the right man for the job, so a multi-year extension is Keefe’s reward.
Toronto Maple Leafs Extend Head Coach Sheldon Keefe
Keefe became the 31st Head Coach in Toronto Maple Leafs history on November 20, 2019. Though the Leafs have not found playoffs success under his leadership, they have been contenders the entire time, had excellent regular seasons and didn’t get enough credit for pushing the back-to-back Cup Champions to Game 7 in 2022. (It’s also worth noting that having to play Tampa in the first round is preposterous).
Through 267 regular season games, Keefe has coached the team to a 166-71-30 record to rank him sixth in wins in the franchise’s 105-year history.
Under Keefe, the Leafs have set franchise records for most wins (54) and points (115) during a single season (2021-22) while also recording consecutive 50-win campaigns over their two most recent seasons.
Since joining the Leafs, the team has posted a .622 winning percentage under Keefe, which ranks them only behind the Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and Carolina Hurricanes in that span.
Keefe joined the Toronto Maple Leafs organization as Head Coach of the Toronto Marlies (AHL) in June 2015. In parts of five seasons with the Marlies, Keefe led them to a 199-89-22-9 record in 319 regular season games. During his time with the Marlies, they won the franchise’s first Calder Cup championship in 2018. They also won the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy as AHL regular season champions twice.
The team made four consecutive playoff appearances with Keefe as coach and posted a 38-21 post-season record. Keefe will continue to try and help the Leafs find similar playoff success.
Sheldon Keefe worked with former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas for years and was his handpicked successor to Mike Babcock. It was widely speculated that Keefe would eventually join his old friend in Pittsburgh, which is partly what makes this extension so surprising.
The second reason it is surprising is because general managers tend to want to hire their own coach.
The Toronto Maple Leafs obviously think that Keefe is the right man for the job, and his record speaks for himself. The playoffs are another story, but it seems Keefe has earned a chance to correct the one blight on his resume.