Why Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Sheldon Keefe Is Vastly Underrated

Since the Toronto Maple Leafs replaced former head coach Mike Babcock with current bench boss Sheldon Keefe in November of 2019, the team has won 62 percent of their games.

The Toronto Maple Leafs record is fourth best in the National Hockey League over that span and the they have notched at least a point in a whopping 68 percent of those games.

Keefe is a coaching stud and he has the perfect temperament for the city of Toronto – almost like a seasoned press secretary at the White House – where media scrutiny can be quite unnerving.

How often do you see Keefe get entangled in any type of controversy with any news outlets? It has never happened and he repeatedly deflects scrutiny away from his players by taking the blame for any failures.

Why Toronto Maple Leafs Coach Sheldon Keefe Is Vastly Underrated

Keefe has handled the press with masterful aplomb and it’s a huge reason why he is the true leader of this team.

Keefe is not shy to call out the high-profile players on the team and has managed egos without any leaks or infighting. The Leafs put out a consistent message and the team remarkably stays on point in a city that has notoriously eaten past lineups for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

He’s even survived a change in general managers and received a two-year extension from the new guy in charge, Brad Treliving.

In any other hockey market, he’d be regarded as a Scotty Bowman type, but in Toronto, where every fan, reporter, beer hawker and scalper think they know how to coach a professional hockey team, Keefe doesn’t get the love he deserves.

Yes, the team has not advanced deep in the playoffs, but considering that goals are hard to come by with the tight checking that comes in the postseason and what Keefe has been given on defense, he cannot shoulder the blame.

He’s yet to be handed a true No. 1 goaltender, unless rookie Joseph Woll can develop into one pretty soon. Keefe maximizes whatever roster he’s been given even when it is clear the Leafs need more from their back end.

Short of strapping on the pads himself (even though Keefe was a winger for the Tampa Bay Lightning), the Toronto Maple Leafs HC has been excellent in his tenure. Where he shows his true value is with in-game adjustments.

Whereas Babcock would notoriously play veterans even if the younger guys were better, Keefe uses ice time methodically. He has a great feel for when to split up Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner; and when to put them back together.

He also moves surrounding cast members into key roles at important times and usually gets results as he did with Calle Järnkrok last year. Keefe always keeps things fresh and moves defenseman into different pairs when the team needs to tighten up.

Hey, he’s not perfect (the Leafs might benefit from Timothy Liljegren getting an increased role), but the players seem to admire and respect the man, so maybe the dude selling popcorn at home games should as well – because Keefe is the most underrated piece for a team that will win the Stanley Cup in 2023-24.