Firing Keefe as coach won’t solve all issues holding Maple Leafs back

TORONTO -- When the Toronto Maple Leafs held their end-of-season meetings with the media Monday, it was coach Sheldon Keefe who fell on the sword for yet another underachieving postseason performance.

It was his mandate to get the team over its Stanley Cup Playoff shortcomings, he said, and he’d failed to do that. The disappointment, which included a seven-game elimination at the hands of the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup First Round, was, in his opinion, on him.

As such, it should come as no surprise that Keefe was fired as coach of the Maple Leafs on Thursday. For a franchise that has one postseason series win in 20 years, change was needed. In fact, in the minds of the team’s long-suffering fan base, it was demanded.

Less than two hours after the Maple Leafs announced the firing, Keefe took to social media with a video thanking Toronto fans, ownership, staff, even the media, for the chance given to a kid from nearby Brampton, Ontario, to live out a dream and coach the Maple Leafs.

At the same time, he blamed no one but himself for his fate. That message stayed constant.

“I didn’t get it done in the playoffs. I didn’t help our team push it over the line and deliver. I accept responsibility for that. No excuses,” Keefe said.

“That’s the job and I didn’t get it done.”

In the end, Keefe held himself accountable.

It’s about time Maple Leafs players did the same.

Unlike their soon-to-be-fired coach, there were no soliloquies from them Monday accepting fault for yet another year of falling well short of their goal of a Stanley Cup, something the franchise hasn’t won since 1967.

Instead, there were plenty of claims of what a tight-knit group they were, and how close they came.

But what exactly do they think they came close to?

Winning a first-round series? Sure. They were one shot away from that, only to have Bruins forward David Pastrnak squash those hopes 1:54 into overtime of Game 7 on Saturday.

But close to winning a Stanley Cup? Nowhere near that. Not this year. Not for decades.

And there’s the rub.

Should that run of futility rest on Keefe’s shoulders? Of course not.

Since replacing Mike Babcock as coach on Nov. 19, 2019, Keefe led the Maple Leafs to a regular-season record of 212-97-40. He ranks fifth in coaching victories in Maple Leafs franchise history, trailing only Punch Imlach (370), Pat Quinn (300), Hap Day (259) and Dick Irvin (216).

But his teams were 1-5 in playoff series with a record of 16-21. For that, he paid the price. Coaches usually do.

That doesn’t get the players off the hook.

Consider that almost half of Toronto’s NHL salary cap space is dedicated to four forwards -- Auston Matthews ($11.6 million average annual value), John Tavares ($11 million AAV), Mitch Marner ($10.9 million AAV) and William Nylander ($6.9 million AAV) -- who are relied upon to score goals. Matthews’ AAV rises to $13.25 million next season, Nylander’s to $11.5 million.

So how do you explain the fact that the Maple Leafs scored two goals or fewer in 13 of the past 14 postseason games? Or, since 2015-16, the four have played a combined 204 postseason games and have scored a combined 66 goals. 

Isn’t lighting up the scoreboard supposed to be the team’s strength, not a weakness?

This much is certain: the reasons for that type of offensive funk cut far deeper than coaching.

Matthews, Marner, Nylander and defenseman Morgan Rielly are 1-8 in playoff series since first playing together in 2016. In those eight seasons, they’ve grinded through three general managers -- Lou Lamoriello, Kyle Dubas and current GM Brad Treliving -- and two coaches – Babcock and Keefe. Tavares, meanwhile, is 1-6 in postseason series since joining the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in 2018. 

Marner and Tavares each has one year remaining on their contract. Whether management opts to break up the core of the team remains to be seen. What does seem obvious is that more change is coming. To that end, clarification of the team’s future should come Friday when new Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment president Keith Pelley, Treliving and team president Brendan Shanahan, who himself may be on the hot seat, hold a press conference.

Where does the organization go from here?

One of the leading candidates to replace Keefe is Craig Berube, who led the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019. Berube is a no-nonsense guy who doesn’t accept excuses. 

And given Toronto’s underachieving postseason results year after year, that may be the type of tough love this team needs moving forward.

With his contract set to expire, Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour should also be near or at the top of Toronto’s wish list if he becomes available. Of course, logic suggests the Hurricanes will re-sign him.

Keefe was a first-time NHL head coach when hired by the Maple Leafs, which suggests Toronto might opt to go the experienced route this time.

If so, there are a number of worthy candidates who have accrued an impressive cache of regular-season NHL wins including Todd McLellan (598), Gerrard Gallant (369) and Dean Evason (147). After stints with the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks, Bruce Boudreau (617) might get some consideration as well.

John Gruden, coach of the American Hockey League Toronto Marlies, and University of Denver coach David Carle, who just won the NCAA championship, are options among candidates who have never coached in the NHL. Gruden has served as an assistant with the Bruins.

The one thing Berube has over all of them on his resume is having coached a Stanley Cup champion.

In the end, that should be the end game for the Maple Leafs too.