Leafs fire coach Keefe after first-round exit
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
The Toronto Maple Leafs relieved Sheldon Keefe of head-coaching duties on Thursday.
According to a statement from the club, a search for Keefe’s replacement will begin immediately.
“Today’s decision was difficult,” said Leafs’ general manager Brad Treliving. “Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal. We thank Sheldon for his hard work and dedication to the organization over the last nine years, and wish him and his family all the very best.”
No determination has been made about the rest of Toronto’s coaching staff, which includes assistants Manny Malhotra, Dean Chynoweth and Guy Boucher.
Keefe has two years remaining on a contract extension Treliving signed him to in August, which doesn’t officially kick in until the 2024-25 season.
Treliving is scheduled to meet with the media alongside president Brendan Shanahan and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley on Friday.
Keefe was promoted to Toronto’s head-coaching role in November 2019 to replace the fired Mike Babcock. Keefe had previously been coach of the Leafs American Hockey League affiliate Toronto Marlies since 2015 and guided them to a Calder Cup championship in 2018.
Through 4½ NHL seasons, Keefe led the Leafs to a 212-97-40 record — with consecutive seasons of 50 or more wins — and playoff appearances in each full campaign. Toronto never found postseason success under Keefe though, bowing out of the first round in three of the past four seasons, including in this year’s first-round loss to Boston in Game 7 overtime.
That defeat in particular appeared to seal Keefe’s fate. The Leafs were down 3-1 in the series and battled back to force a decisive final contest, but Toronto’s perennial underachievement forced management into making a change.
This is the first major adjustment for Treliving since he joined Toronto’s staff last May. Shanahan had parted ways with former GM Kyle Dubas — who originally hired Keefe to replace Babcock after also bringing Keefe to the organization when he was GM of the Marlies’ prior to that — and introduced Treliving in the role shortly after. Treliving opted to extend Keefe before last season began, touting Keefe’s “clear vision and direction for where the team needs to go.”
Now the hunt for Keefe’s successor will get underway in what could be a busy offseason for the Leafs. Toronto has key skaters including Auston Matthews and William Nylander signed to long-term contracts. They want to capitalize on that core with success right now, particularly in the playoffs. The other pieces of the Leafs’ designated Core Four — Mitch Marner and John Tavares — will be entering the final year of their current deals this season. Both would be eligible to sign extensions in Toronto on July 1.
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Kristen Shilton
The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.
Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.
Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.
The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.
Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.
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Ryan S. Clark
Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.
Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.
He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.
Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.
It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.
That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.
But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
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