Why the Sheldon Keefe firing was necessary for the Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe this morning following the Leafs’ first-round exit to the Boston Bruins in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Today on Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the firing and why it was necessary for the Maple Leafs to make such a change behind their bench.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s start with the big news we got this morning and that’s the Toronto Maple Leafs have officially fired Sheldon Keefe. He is out there before his two-year extension even kicks in, so he will be getting paid. His regular season numbers are unbelievable at 212-97-40, but this is simply because he couldn’t get the team to advance in the playoffs right?

Frank Seravalli: It’s as simple as that, it wasn’t possible to ignore a necessary change. One of the things I have been talking about since the Leafs’ Game 7 exit and there’s something, an attitude that permeates this team and it starts at the top and goes to the bottom. That includes paranoia, succumbing to pressure or at least publically acknowledging the pressure. Keefe had about eight missed steps when it comes to things he said, it almost felt like he knew it was a potential inevitability if they didn’t make it out of the first round.

Frank Seravalli: I think he was wearing it and it seeps through the rest of the team especially when you say stuff like Auston Matthews chasing 70 goals is a “distraction.” I’m not harping on his press conferences and saying that’s why they lost, but the team feeds off that energy and feeds off that nervousness. If you have a ton of eyeballs on you and you are what your coach is, what he feels like. I think it’s been abundantly clear what he has been feeling the last few months being the coach of the Leafs.