The Toronto Maple Leafs completed a clean sweep of the organization on Tuesday, as the club announced that Gord Dineen will not return as head coach of the AHL Toronto Marlies, that associate coach Derek King has been fired and that assistant coach Ben Simon has been offered another position within the organization.
Dineen was promoted to head coach after serving as an assistant to Dallas Eakins and Steve Spott the last five seasons and had a 40-27-9 record in 2014-15, leading one of the youngest rosters in the AHL to the Calder Cup Playoffs, but losing in the first round to the Grand Rapids Griffins in five games.
The former NHL defenseman has decided to remain as an associate coach as the club announced in a press release that they will begin a search for a new head coach immediately.
The leading candidate for that position may be Sault Ste. Marie coach Sheldon Keefe, who the Leafs requested and have been granted permission to speak with.
Keefe was hired by current Leafs assistant GM Kyle Dubas in 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the top of the OHL’s Western Conference with 54-12-2 record this season and has been rumored to be in consideration for a job either with the Leafs or the Marlies ever since the Greyhounds were eliminated from the OHL Playoffs.
With the focus primarily on developing young players within the organization and Dubas handling the GM duties with the Marlies, Keefe’s involvement at the AHL level makes more sense than serving as an NHL assistant to a yet-to-be-named head coach.
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Toronto did make one addition to the organization on Tuesday, as they added Lindsay Hofford to the club's scouting staff. Hofford had previous junior coaching experience in the OHL and WHL and served as the Director of Scouting with the OHL London Knights under current Leafs Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter.
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