Toronto Maple Leafs Rumors: Team Facing “Pressure” To Dump Sheldon Keefe

Another season with high expectations is down the drain for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and another summer of discontent is upon them. Changes are coming, no doubt, and after failing once again to get this team to realize its potential, the head coach, Sheldon Keefe, is right at the top of the hit list.

According to James Mirtle of The Athletic, there are a number of reasons that Keefe's job is in serious jeopardy. And it actually starts with the fact that his biggest ally, GM Kyle Dubas's future is in doubt as well.

If there’s a new GM coming... it’s hard to see coach Sheldon Keefe retained, after four consecutive playoff losses. Even if Dubas stays, it stands to reason there will be a lot of pressure to make a change there, especially with some high-profile names available behind the bench.

As noted, even Dubas, if he stays, might not be able to save Keefe. And that's where the next most important part of the pressure to remove the head coach comes from.

The list of those aforementioned "high-profile names" available on the NHL coaching carousel this summer is long and impressive:

Gerard Gallant
Peter Laviolette
Bruce Boudreau
Claude Julien
Andrew Brunette
Darryl Sutter
Joel Quenneville

The last two, of course, are multi-time Stanley Cup winners, but come with red flags—Sutter for the corrosive off-ice environment he creates for his players, and Quenneville for the fact that he's currently persona non-grata in the NHL until Commissioner Gary Bettman approves his return.

Nevertheless, a lot of previously successful coaches on that list who just might be able to whip this talented Maple Leafs' roster into realizing the potential they hold. The pressure could very well be on Leafs management to try their hand with one of those possibilities rather than the more difficult task of blowing up the whole roster.

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