Sheldon Keefe's departure in Toronto suddenly has him among NHL's top coaches

In five years as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sheldon Keefe finished outside the top-three for the Jack Adams trophy as coach of the year, including the 2021-2022 season when he coached the Leafs to a franchise record 115 points.

When Keefe was fired from the Leafs and landed with the Devils, many analysts instantly believed he would have a tremendous amount of success outside of Toronto because he wouldn't be under the microscope or in the 'hot bed of hockey' where every decision is analyzed and scrutinized down to the colour of the pen it was written in.

Keefe had tremendous success in Toronto, at least in the regular season, and managed to get the Leafs past the first round for the first time in two decades, but it just wasn't good enough.

Now that he has left Toronto, however, without even coaching a game for the Devils, he is considered the off-season front-runner to win next season's Jack Adams award.

Part of that is due to the fact the Devils absolutely stunk last season, while the other part has to do with their tremendous off-season moves, which should contribute to a drastic jump in the standings.

Oddsmakers have Keefe with +700 odds to win coach of the year next season, with new Leafs bench boss Craig Berube at +1200 and Travis Green being his closest competition at +800.

Source:NHL.com
Jack Adams voting history