New Jersey Devils hire former Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe
Posted May 22, 2024 5:45 pm.
It didn’t take long for Sheldon Keefe to find a new job.
The New Jersey Devils hired Keefe as head coach, Sportsnet confirmed on Wednesday. The Spittin’ Chiclets podcast was the first to report the news.
Keefe was fired as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 9, less than a week after the club lost Game 7 of the first round in overtime against the Boston Bruins. He had two years left on his contract.
The Devils, meanwhile, fired their head coach Lindy Ruff on March 4 and moved assistant Travis Green into the interim head coach position. At the close of the season, Green accepted the head coaching gig in Ottawa, making room for Keefe to take over as the Devils’ new bench boss.
Under Keefe, the Leafs achieved great regular-season success, but never made a long playoff run.
The club won just one of six playoff series under his watch with the Leafs qualifying for post-season play in all five of his years behind the bench.
Former GM Kyle Dubas promoted Keefe from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies to replace Mike Babcock early in the 2019-20 season. In 2017-18, Keefe guided the Marlies to the Calder Cup.
The 43-year-old native of Brampton, Ont. was widely praised for getting the Leafs back into this year’s first-round series against the Bruins after falling behind 3-1 and dealing with several key injuries, but the team’s string of playoff losses made his departure seem inevitable.
Dubas gave Keefe his big break in coaching, hiring him to coach the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds in 2012 after he won a national junior-A championship with the Pembroke Lumber Kings.
A high-scoring junior player, Keefe ended up playing 125 career NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
