During the 2013-14 season, their only full season together, Sault Ste. Marie reached the second round of the OHL playoffs. The following season, Keefe was named the 2014-15 Ontario Hockey League and Canadian Hockey League coach of the year before Dubas, then the assistant GM of the Maple Leafs, hired Keefe as the Marlies coach.
On May 28, Keefe signed a two-year contract extension with the Marlies.
"Ensuring that Sheldon remains tasked with guiding the development of our prospects was very important to our program and the reason we began the discussion to extend Sheldon months ago," Dubas said at the time.
Ottawa Senators coach D.J. Smith has known Keefe since they were roommates with Hershey of the AHL in 2003-04, and they worked together at times the previous four seasons when Smith was a Maple Leafs assistant.
"He's a very good guy, smart hockey man," Smith said. "He went to the Marlies and he certainly proved that he's well deserving and he's one of the better up-and-coming coaches. He's done everything you can do in the American Hockey League. The players that have come up under him have been very detailed and he's done a really good job."
Now he'll get the chance to prove he can do the same in the NHL.
"Not unlike the players that are here, I want to be part of the highest level as well," Keefe told Sportsnet in May. "I know that everything I do every day is about making this team better. It's also about making myself better. For when anybody in the business decides you're worthy of an opportunity, you have to be as prepared as possible. So I focus on what I can control and try to be the best coach I can."
LNH.com staff writer Guillaume Lepage contributed to this report
