TORONTO -- The dismissal of Sheldon Keefe as coach is unlikely to be the only significant change the Toronto Maple Leafs will make this offseason, the team’s hierarchy indicated Friday.
At least that was the line offered by Toronto's management team of incoming Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment president Keith Pelley, longtime team president Brendan Shanahan and first-year general manager Brad Treliving.
Making their first public comments since the Maple Leafs were eliminated in seven games by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round last Saturday, all three vowed to change the narrative of a team that has won one Stanley Cup Playoff series in the past 20 years.
“There’s no complacency. We’re not here to sell jerseys. We’re here to win,” proclaimed Pelley, named to his position April 2.
Come postseason time, the Maple Leafs have failed to do that. Since 2016, when center Auston Matthews, forwards Mitch Marner and William Nylander and defenseman Morgan Rielly first started playing together as the backbone of the team, Toronto has gone 1-8 in playoff series.
“Our playoff results have not been good enough. That’s on me,” Shanahan said. “The results that we’ve had in the playoffs, our players know, I know, we know, they’re unacceptable. They’re unacceptable to our fans and those who support the Maple Leafs.”
How do they expect to alter that narrative when talented Toronto teams have come up short in the postseason time and time again?
“When you go through a season as we have, everything must be on the table," Treliving said. "Everything needs to be looked at. Everything needs to be considered.”
The GM added that the time for patience has run out.
“I think we're at a point where we see this repeatable, and we've got to dig in,” he said. “The results, sitting here today, when we think we should still be playing, isn't acceptable.”
What actual moves are made remain to be seen, but here are some indications of what lies ahead for the organization from what was gleaned Friday:
How much urgency is there to quickly replace Sheldon Keefe, who was dismissed as coach on Thursday?