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Reading the Leafs landscape – Management and Coaching |
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The Toronto Maple Leafs may be at a crossroads after their sixth straight early exit, with a number of decisions of how to make the team better with limited salary cap room. Team President Brendan Shanahan ended any speculation regarding the immediate future of GM Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe at the club’s season-ending media availability on Tuesday, giving the pair his support in the wake of the franchise record 115-point campaign.
“You would like to start mixing in quite soon those victories that pull you closer together, but for me (the loss to Tampa) just strengthens our resolve to support each other and get the job done,” Shanahan said. “It strengthens my resolve to give them whatever they need to get over that hump, get through those challenges, and get to the place where we want to be.”
As we know with votes of confidence, they can be closely followed by dismissal in a results-oriented business. Keefe was signed to a multi-year extension last summer, while Dubas is reportedly entering the final year of his deal with the Leafs. That fact combined with the pressure to show some progress is likely to make Toronto more willing to go in a direction this time around that they resisted going in the past.
“I don’t think that we just want to start making changes that may be lateral or make us inferior as a team just to say that we changed something. In these moments, it is easy to say that you believe at the beginning of the year. It is easy to say that you believe when you won or that you always have. In these moments where you have not reached the potential that everyone knows you have and you internally know that you have, that is when true belief is measured.” Dubas said. “With every offseason, no matter what the end result was, we would look at the entire group. We will do that in the coming weeks and determine how we want to move ahead.”
Dubas has made only one move behind the bench, firing Mike Babcock in favor of Keefe in November 2019. Normally GM’s will get a couple kicks at the coaching can before their job is in jeopardy, but since the two have been joined at the hip since Sault Ste. Marie, it is probable that Keefe’s future rests on Dubas making the right decisions this summer.
In spite of his protestations, Dubas has to realize that a lateral move of a core piece for someone at either a different position or who offers a different personality or disposition might be a positive for a club that continues to fall short of the mark.
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Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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