The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe after five seasons as head coach of the Maple Leafs and 11 years with the Maple Leafs. The Ontario Native took over the Head Coaching position in November of 2020 after the Leafs fired then-head coach Mike Babcock. During his tenure as Head Coach, the Leafs put up a 212-97-40 record during the regular season but were 1-5 during the Stanley Cup Playoffs under Keefe. Prior to joining the Maple Leafs, Keefe spent five seasons at the Head Coach of the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. He led the Marlies to a Calder Cup Championship in 2018.
The firing of Keefe continues a trend of head coaches who have recently been given extension getting fired, Keefe had a two-year extension with Toronto that had yet to kick in before he got fired. The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise as the Leafs have been shaking up management over the last two seasons after Kyle Dubas was let go as General Manager. Toronto’s search for a new head coach will begin immediately. This is now the 19th coaching change in the NHL since the end of last season. Some of the bigger coaching names that are available include Jay Woodcroft, Craig Berube, and Todd McLellan, all three of them were fired this season. It would be expected that the Leafs will want a big name and someone with experience to take over at the helm.
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