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The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering a season with significant ramifications after losing in the opening round the last five years, which made it all the more surprising when The Athletic’s
Pierre LeBrun reported on Thursday that the club had signed head coach Sheldon Keefe to a two-year contract extension.
Keefe has an excellent regular season record (62-29-12) after taking over for Mike Babcock in November 2019 and was entering the final year of his contract, but it was expected that the futures of Team President Brendan Shanahan, GM Kyle Dubas and Keefe were all hanging in the balance on what the club did this season.
The extension could be an indicator that the Leafs hierarchy may not be on the chopping block as many have suspected. Shanahan has four years left on a six-year contract, Dubas still has term remaining after taking over as Leafs GM in 2018 and Keefe is now signed through the 2023-24 season.
It also could be a “golden parachute” of sorts for Keefe, who has been attached to the hip with Dubas going back a decade to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. If there is a complete house cleaning in Toronto after this season, the new deal would provide Keefe an income while searching for a new job.
Toronto did something very similar to this in the May 2014, signing Randy Carlyle to a two-year extension with one year left on his deal, but that did not mean much as he was fired seven months later.
The circumstances seem to be different this time around, with a talented core group and an organization that some belief is on the precipice of having some success, but if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs in the tough Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, the pressure from a frustrated fan base may boil over to the point where something has to be done.
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The Leafs do not have a pre-season game scheduled until Monday in Ottawa, so the club will hold a Blue vs. White Game at Scotiabank Arena at 6 pm on Friday, prior to a sizable cutdown of their roster and the opening of the Toronto Marlies training camp.
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Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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