Leafs, Keefe discussing multi-year contract extension: report

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a significant change to their front office last week, but it seems like they might be running it back with their head coach.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs — and new general manager Brad Treliving —  are looking into possibly offering Keefe an extension as his contract with the team is set to expire after the 2023-24 season.

“No confirmation from either side, but I believe the Maple Leafs and Sheldon Keefe have now met twice since Brad Treliving was hired as GM,” Friedman said on last night’s broadcast of Game 1 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. “If he’s back, I think we’re in a situation where they won’t go [into next year] with him in his last year. I think there will be an extension if he returns as coach of the Maple Leafs.”

Treliving himself suggested Keefe could be back in a radio interview last week.

“I look at Sheldon, and I told him I am not coming in with any preconceived notions. It is out of the GM handbook: When a new GM comes in, he has to bring his own guy, right? It is sort of like saying, ‘I have to trade a guy for the sake of trading a guy.’ If it is not making your team better… [what’s the point?],” Treliving said in an interview with TSN 1050’s OverDrive show earlier this week.

For Keefe himself, the task ahead is pretty clear: find some sustained playoff success. He’s put up a record of 166-71-30 in his four seasons as head coach but won just one playoff series in that timeframe.

As for the man who hired Treliving, it seems like he’s at least open to keeping Keefe around too.

“We want to support the GM. The GM, the coach, and the players are forward-facing the most. The most pressure is on them,” Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said during his season-ending press conference. “Without making any promises, we will look at everything in the organization and try to make decisions that will make us better.”