Sheldon Keefe was fired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. No replacement was named.
The Maple Leafs lost the Eastern Conference First Round in seven games to the Boston Bruins and have advanced beyond the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs once (2023) since 2004. They went 46-26-10 in the regular season to finish third in the Atlantic Division with 102 points.
“Today’s decision was difficult,” Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said. “Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal. We thank Sheldon for his hard work and dedication to the organization over the last nine years, and wish him and his family all the very best.”
Just once in their past 14 postseason games have the Maple Leafs scored more than two goals in a game, when they defeated the Bruins 3-2 in Game 2. They were 1-for-21 on the power play (4.8 percent) in the series after they were seventh in the regular season (24.0 percent). Keefe was asked about the future of the core after Toronto lost 2-1 in overtime of Game 7 and whether he thought it might be able to eventually break through.
“We’re in the results business here, and we didn’t get results,” Keefe said Monday. “We haven’t met expectations, and as head coach I take responsibility for that.”
That group includes forwards Auston Matthews (107 points; 69 goals, 38 assists) William Nylander (98 points; 40 goals, 58 assists), Mitch Marner (85 points; 26 goals, 59 assists) and John Tavares (65 points; 29 goals, 36 assists). Marner will enter the final season of a six-year, $65.358 million contract. Tavares, the Maple Leafs captain, will be on the last of a seven-year, $77 million contract and is 1-6 in postseason series since signing with Toronto.
“You have a team that has expectations and has goals in mind, and when you don’t reach them it’s not a good feeling,” Keefe said. “My job as coach is to find solutions and chart a path ahead for the group to come through. They need to succeed at the most important time of the year, and we haven’t done that.
“I’m in the coaching business, and in the coaching business you don’t get to make decisions about your position,” he said. “So for me, it’s out of my control.”
Keefe, 43, was 212-97-40 and 16-21 in the playoffs in five seasons with the Maple Leafs, his first coaching job in the NHL after he replaced Mike Babcock on Nov. 20, 2019. He is the 11th NHL coach fired this season, joining Jay Woodcroft (Edmonton Oilers), Dean Evason (Minnesota Wild), Craig Berube (St. Louis Blues), D.J. Smith (Ottawa Senators), Lane Lambert (New York Islanders), Todd McLellan (Los Angeles Kings), Lindy Ruff (New Jersey Devils), Don Granato (Buffalo Sabres), David Quinn (San Jose Sharks) and Dave Hakstol (Seattle Kraken).
Rick Bowness retired as Winnipeg Jets coach Monday.
NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger contributed to this report
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