Leafs extend Sheldon Keefe

[The Gr8 Dane]

Maybe so but to me it now looks like Dubas might have wanted to make certain changes this offseason that Shanahan didn't agree with. I think the heat moves to Shanahan if the Leafs have another mediocre post season.

I totally agree , Dubas was about to go big dog and try to fix the mess he made , I don't think Shanny wanted him to have that much control/pull. Not saying Dubas deserved to stay either but Shanny is not looking good in this situation

 

[LOFIN]

Why? What has he done?

Didn't get fired after last season. Thus he gets an extension, because lame duck coaches are generally not a thing in the NHL.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Maybe so but to me it now looks like Dubas might have wanted to make certain changes this offseason that Shanahan didn't agree with. I think the heat moves to Shanahan if the Leafs have another mediocre post season.

It absolutely should, and I'm pretty certain Shanny's seat has been warming up for a few seasons now.

One single series win, over a ten year span, would be grounds for termination in a lot of markets, but not here apparently.

 

[BallardEra]

It absolutely should, and I'm pretty certain Shanny's seat has been warming up for a few seasons now.

One single series win, over a ten year span, would be grounds for termination in a lot of markets, but not here apparently.

The bosses must really love him. Only thing that makes sense.

 

[HockeyVirus]

I find it funny that so many folks on here think the Leafs are closer to blow it up than tinker. They are a consistent top team in the league, they won a round last year and really have only been contenders the past 3 seasons IMO.

The Leafs are naturally going to have change given Nylander may not be returning and Tavares deal expiring. Keefe won't finish this contract, this is so the players listen to him. His seat is hot, and if they stumble this year or fail to go on a deep run he will be fired.

But he is not a bad coach at all. One of the best records in regular seasons ever. And yes he got outcoached against the Habs but he needs time to learn as well. Same argument for me as to why they should have kept Dubas is simply - They already provided them with on the job training. Now that they have learned how to do the job in the NHL might as well let them try instead of letting another org reap the benefits.

All of this to say.. People will make a big deal out of this when it is really nothing like they do with any topic about the Leafs.

 

[innitfam]

Why give him more than a 1 year extension?

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

So Toronto really is gonna run it back for what... the five time now? I suppose they got to the second round and think it was just Bobrovsky that stopped them.

Nothing against Keefe either as I think he's a good coach, more or so in the regular season though. I also think it would have benefited everyone involved to part ways. Although, it's only a coach signing. Not like Toronto cares if they fire him a year later and still pay him.

 

[Kranix]

He'll still get fired after this season.

 

[tfwnogf]

got em out of the first round, all hail chief keefe

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

Expected, doesn’t mena he’s safe though. Just how things are done with coaches.

in Toronto*

its very expensive to fire coaches mid-contract

They absolutely should have done that, and should have done it years ago. Trade one of the core 4 for D and depth. The fact that that was never the plan is precisely why they can't win in the playoffs.

i personally think Shanahan is to blame for a lot of their mis-queues and not Dubas

not only should Shanahan not have meddled with the GMs decision-making, but I suspect he had s major hand in the original contracts for the core four (just a hunch, but i think Dubas had better contracts in mind and Shanahan forced his hand as to not piss then off)

 

[Oleksiak]

Really didn't expect him to stay long now that Toronto has a GM who is actually qualified for the job. Not sure what they're thinking here by waiting to get rid of Dubas' nepotism hire.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

If Dubas had made this move, the anti-Dubas crowd would pan the shit out of it and see it as Dubas running amok again. Treveling comes in, hands Keefe the extension, and it's "cool, right on, we got shitloads of cash, we can always stroke a check to make him go away."

Meanwhile, team president Brendan Shanahan continues to float along on the Sea of Goodwill because of a carefully crafted image that people have bought for years that masks his incompetence. If (when?) this move blows up, it'll be interesting to see whether Shanahan continues to skate from questions.

I find it funny that so many folks on here think the Leafs are closer to blow it up than tinker. They are a consistent top team in the league, they won a round last year and really have only been contenders the past 3 seasons IMO.

You know who else was a consistent top team? Washington, pre-2018. St. Louis, pre-2019. San Jose for years. Nashville for years.

What did all of those teams do? Put up gaudy regular season numbers, struggle in the postseason. But at least all 4 of those teams won a series on occasion. The last 3 got to at least one conference final. Arguably swiped a series they shouldn't have. And, they all made at least one significant change to their alleged core along the way.

What has Toronto done? Built a core, kept it together and then tinkered around the edges ... and for that, it has 7 straight playoff appearances - the first three with a guy who's won a Stanley Cup, the last 5 with the current core and the last 4 with Keefe at the helm - and one series win against an exhausted Lightning squad coming off back-to-back-to-back Finals appearances.

Are they closer to tinkering with the edges than to blowing it up? Not if this group keeps up the recent track record, because "top team in the regular season, ass kicked in the postseason" doesn't keep a roster together, especially one that's been allegedly built to win a championship and loses more playoff games every year than it wins.

 

[POVERTY]

Should have been the first person gone this offseason. Just delaying the inevitable.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

I guess they were interested in Keefeing him around.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Congrats to Sheldon and his family. He is the man to lead the Leafs to many cups over the next 4 years while they have Matthews.

 

[Satoru Gojo]

The Eastern Conference's Jay Woodcroft

On a side note, it's wild to see how many fans still think Bobrovsky single handily beat Toronto

 

[D Wakaluk]

I LOVE THIS

There will be more pain. Oh my god leafs. What are you doing?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Lmfao

 

[gritdash60]

How is 2 years a "multi year extension" its called two (2).
I have multi testicles.

 

[Blowfish]

huh?

 

[Voight]

Yes. It’s always wise to follow a strategy that worked once in modern history. Now all the Leafs need is a generational player and another almost generational player as their top two centers.

2004 Bolts won with Dan Boyle as their #1 d-man.
2006 Canes won with Bret Hedican as their #1-dman.

I dont disagree you need a top defensemen to win the cup but its happened before. Depth is usually a big reason why but its not unheard of.

Matthews and Tavares aren't Crosby and Malkin. That Penguins team was also so deep up front they were running Kessel and Bonino (when he was still good) on their third line. Leafs bottom six is trash.

I do think there was a brief window for the Leafs to build a team similar to those Pens teams though. It would have required keeping Kadri and having him, Matthews and Tavares each center their own line. Instead Dubas made that horrible trade for Barrie and Kerfoot.

Fair enough, however I think some on here are underselling Rielly. Not saying hes one of the best defensemen in the league but hes reliable and also played amazing this past spring.

 

[Sensin5]

Maybe so but to me it now looks like Dubas might have wanted to make certain changes this offseason that Shanahan didn't agree with. I think the heat moves to Shanahan if the Leafs have another mediocre post season.

For reasons unknown the heat absolutely never moves to Shanahan. That is the big mystery.

 

[Oleksiak]

2004 Bolts won with Dan Boyle as their #1 d-man.
2006 Canes won with Bret Hedican as their #1-dman.

I dont disagree you need a top defensemen to win the cup but its happened before. Depth is usually a big reason why but its not unheard of.



Fair enough, however I think some on here are underselling Rielly. Not saying hes one of the best defensemen in the league but hes reliable and also played amazing this past spring.

Rielly is absolute trash in his own zone. He's a big part of the problem in Toronto and they really need to find a way to get rid of him. You can't succeed with a guy who is that much of a liability in your lineup.

 

[Hodge]

2004 Bolts won with Dan Boyle as their #1 d-man.
2006 Canes won with Bret Hedican as their #1-dman.

I dont disagree you need a top defensemen to win the cup but its happened before. Depth is usually a big reason why but its not unheard of.



Fair enough, however I think some on here are underselling Rielly. Not saying hes one of the best defensemen in the league but hes reliable and also played amazing this past spring.

Defensively, he's one of the worst players in the league. He's every bit as bad as Karlsson defensively but he doesn't score 100 points. And Karlsson himself is not a #1 defenseman you can win with.

 

[Toby91ca]

I think Keefe has actually done well for Toronto, but this is probably an extension that you wouldnt see from a team with less financial cache. Unless he wins a Cup, there's almost no chance he completes this next contract... and unless the team makes some real noise in the playoffs this year, he may not get to start it.

It’s a tough spot….there are only 2 coaches in the league with a better win/loss record than him with their team in regular season…but they haven’t been able to get it done in the playoffs. That’s the ultimate goal, so what do you do? Is it the coach? That’s the easy change, but will it help? If they miss the playoffs then it’s a super easy fire.