That Sheldon Keefe would replace Mike Babcock as coach of the Maple Leafs was totally expected earlier this summer.
It’s just no one saw it coming before the 2020 playoffs at the earliest and certainly not prior to this American Thanksgiving. But club president Brendan Shanahan had seen enough troubling signs from his under-achieving team and its cap-maxed roster of misfiring young stars to cash in a 700-win bench boss for his heir apparent.
In firing Babcock Wednesday after a sixth straight loss in Las Vegas the night before, Shanahan and general manager Kyle Dubas are hoping to steal a page, or at least a paragraph, from the St. Louis Blues, who were in last place at mid-season of 2018-19, replaced Mike Yeo with Craig Berube behind the bench and won the Stanley Cup. But right, now management and an antsy ownership group would settle for getting back in the playoff hunt.
Four points out of a wildcard spot with a record of 9-10-4, despite more games played than most NHL teams, things went south on the Leafs too quickly this autumn. An optimistic start with a slew of new players, Toronto had points in seven of its first 10 games.
But Tyson Barrie, who was expected to boost production from the back end, has been a disappointment to date and fellow defenceman Cody Ceci is still finding his way. Goaltender Frederik Andersen held the Leafs in games, but for the second year in a row, the back-up was a weak spot, with Michael Hutchinson losing his first five starts.
Up front, the new mega-contracts of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander were under scrutiny and when all three began struggling to score and seemed to lack confidence and motivation, a death watch on Babcock began.
Shanahan and Dubas dumped Babcock barely halfway through his record eight-year, US$50 million deal, that produced back-to-back 100-point seasons, but no first-round playoff victory in three tries. The last two losses were bitter Game 7 losses to Boston that put the onus on Babcock to change some of his stubborn line-matching methods and game-night roster choices.
That clash of wills with Leafs on and off the ice didn’t appear to be altered much this season and with the hard-driving Babcock showing signs of losing the dressing room as well as so many winnable games of late, management opted for their highly accomplished farm coach Keefe.
“Over parts of the last five seasons, Mike has played an integral role in changing the direction of our franchise,” Shanahan said in a statement before he and Dubas were to formally meet the media in Scottsdale, Ariz., late Wednesday.
“Mike’s commitment and tireless work ethic has put our organization in a better place and we are extremely grateful and appreciative of the foundation he has helped us build here.
“At this time, we collectively felt that it was best to make a change to Sheldon. Sheldon’s record with the Marlies in terms of development and on-ice success during his time in our organization has compelled us all to feel that he is the right person to take us to the next stage in our evolution.”
Babcock leaves with a record of 173-133-45.
A Dubas discovery in Sault Ste. Marie of the OHL, the 39-year-old Keefe filled the Leafs with NHL-ready Marlies after four full seasons in the American Hockey League, one of them a Calder Cup in 2018. Nylander, Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen, Travis Dermott, Frederik Gauthier, Martin Marincin, Justin Holl, Dmytro Timashov, Trevor Moore, Pierre Engvall and goalie Kasimir Kaskisuo are ex-Marlies who excelled under Keefe, who is much more reserved than Babcock.
Keefe was expected to get the benefit of a full off-season to take control whenever the transfer of power took place in the coming years, but has been an integral part of each training camp and coached the Leafs in various rookie tournaments.
The move heaps pressure on the 33-year-old Dubas, who won the job full time ahead of fellow assistant GM Mark Hunter in the summer of 2018 when Lou Lamoriello was phased out. Many of the moves the team made most recently were Dubas-inspired, such as the trades for Barrie and Ceci, letting go proven back-up Curtis McElhinney for Garret Sparks and then Hutchinson, then hiring new assistants for Babcock, Paul McFarland and Dave Hakstol.
Both have been retained despite Babcock’s dismissal, while Keefe’s assistants A.J. MacLean and Rob Davison ran the Marlie bench Wednesday night against Laval. Keefe will address reporters Thursday morning priot to the game against Arizona.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
