Sheldon Keefe reveals how he feels about entering the final year of his deal without an extension in place

Overall, making it to the second round should've been labelled as a success but the way the Maple Leafs were defeated by the Panthers left a sour taste in everyone's mouth. The core members shared the blame but another season done and dusted doesn't bode well for a head coach.

In the end it was Kyle Dubas who ended up stealing the limelight, which worked out in Keefe's favour. Not only was the media heavily concerned around the former GM but then once it became official that he would not return, all eyes then fervently shifted towards the new GM search.

Brad Treliving didn't want to make any haphazard moves to begin his tenure and said he would give Keefe a fair shake. It seems to have worked out well for the 42-year-old Brampton native as he gets another crack at the whip of a talented roster.

Keefe has been a successful head coach at both the NHL and AHL levels. With the Toronto Marlies from 2015-16 to 2019-20, he went 200-89-22-9 while losing twice in the third round but winning the Calder Cup in 2017-18. At the NHL-level he's gone 166-71-30 with 3 first round defeats but led them to the second round for the first time since 2003-04.

With one year remaining on his deal, Keefe was asked if he's had any discussions about a new contract:

"Something that's been mentioned a number of times from Brad that we're going to get to that but really both of us have been focused on our own individual roles..."

"I'm not too concerned about it at this point in time, I've enjoyed my time working with Brad and have been so focused on this process that the other stuff to me will work itself out over time."

Seems a bit premature to be talking about a new contract just months removed from the media almost running him out of town. He will be under a bigger microscope this season but that shouldn't faze him in the slightest since that's been the case ever since he took the job back in 2019-20.