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No indication of changes with Dubas, Keefe in wake of first-round exit

May 16, 2022, 3:52 PM ET [621 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs will hold their end of season locker cleanout and Team President Brendan Shanahan, GM Kyle Dubas, and head coach Sheldon Keefe will have their end-of-season media availabilities on Tuesday, but unlike changes made in Las Vegas and on Long Island on Monday, there is not expected to be any significant moves made by the club.

Even before the start of the playoffs, there were indications that GM Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe would be safe barring a one-sided massacre at the hands of Tampa Bay. The Leafs good effort in a seven-game loss to the two-time Stanley Cup champions likely makes any calls for Dubas and/or Keefe to be fired to fall on deaf ears, but that reality may only serve as a precursor to maneuvers in other areas after Toronto’s sixth straight opening-round exit.

All the excuses about penalties, the divisional playoff format, or simply bad luck have to be put aside. Many things have changed over the last half dozen years. There have been two general managers, a pair of head coaches and a variety of assistants, two starting goaltenders, and an ever-changing supporting cast on defense and forward, but the one constant has been
the core group of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly.

12 months ago, Shanahan and Dubas through their full support behind the core group, saying that any team would love to have any one of them, but that fact does not mean that changing up the chemistry or the construct of the club is the wrong thing to do.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated on Monday that Toronto in the wake of another defeat may finally address the need for more of a physical presence on their top two lines and mentioned possibly re-engaging interest with Detroit in winger Tyler Bertuzzi. Bertuzzi scored 30 goals in 68 games for the Wings, but the Sudbury, ON played no games in Canada because he was the lone NHLer not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Even if that interest does not result in a deal being consummated, the Leafs organization has to finally come to the realization that if it is not the GM, the coach, the assistants, or the supporting cast, there can only be one answer to why the club is not clearing the hurdle.


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