Why job turnover for Sheldon Keefe and Craig Berube is a win-win
With both teams in second-place in their divisions, the Devils and Maple Leafs have found new life under their bench bosses. As Sheldon Keefe makes his return to Toronto, Luke Fox looks at the coaching hires were a win-win.
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NEWARK, N.J. — Well before Sheldon Keefe was Jack Hughes’ coach, the New Jersey Devils superstar was keeping tabs on his work.
Hughes appreciated how Keefe prioritized possession and leaned into skill, constantly searching for ways to put the Toronto Maple Leafs’ elite, prime-age game-breakers — Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander — in the optimal positions to score.
Hughes took note of Keefe’s willingness to let Toronto’s top power-play unit run for 110 seconds, to load up super lines for key O-zone draws or following a penalty kill.
No wonder, then, as a talent flexing video-game-like creativity, the confident EA Sports coverboy was telling every outlet with a microphone how amped he was to build a relationship with his new forward-thinking head coach.
The fresh-start results for Keefe in New Jersey have been outstanding, Sunday’s sour 4-0 shutout by the Colorado Avalanche at Prudential Center notwithstanding.
Hughes is very much in the Hart Trophy conversation and is talking excitedly about the possibility of playing Matthews’ wing at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
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As envisioned, Keefe is starting his No. 1 centreman in the offensive zone for 79 per cent of his shifts, far and away a career high.
Veteran forwards Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Stefan Noesen, and Paul Cotter are all tracking career highs in points.
Year over year, the Devils’ power play has rocketed from 13th overall (22.4 per cent) to the NHL’s best (32.6 per cent).
And New Jersey’s team goals per game have jumped from 12th to eighth (3.4 per night), results supported by a peek under the hood. Jersey’s expected goals have also improved from 10th (51.6 per cent) to third (54.4).
I’d say they’re doing OK.
One of the great disappointments of 2023-24, whiffing on the postseason after reaching Round 2 the spring prior, the Devils have new life under their new bench boss.
And vice versa.
“I can only imagine what his day-to-day routine was under the microscope (in Toronto) compared to New Jersey,” said GM Tom Fitzgerald, who aggressively targeted and locked Keefe as soon as he was dismissed from the Leafs.
Since Keefe departed Toronto, the Leafs’ offence has gone in the opposite direction under replacement Craig Berube’s more patient (i.e., dull, direct, demanding) vision for playoff success.
What was once the NHL’s second-most-dangerous offence now ranks 18th. The Leafs’ power play has also tumbled down the charts, from seventh to 18th. (Despite the Core Four’s continued dominance, putting the puck in the net is an issue.)
And yet: We firmly believe change was not only necessary but overdue for both markets, as evidenced by the Maple Leafs and Devils facing off Tuesday with second-place status in their respective divisions.
The deadly, zigzag rush attack versus the reinvented ground-and-pound checkers.
No doubt, upgraded personnel in the nets and on the bluelines has much to do with these club’s solid first third of 2024-25 — take a bow, Fitzgerald and Brad Treliving — but both dressing rooms were screaming for a different voice, a fresh approach.
Keefe, 44, is well regarded for his relentless work ethic and diligent game planning (“über organized” is the phrase Fitzgerald uses), but we’ve been told that the coach’s endless intensity took a toll on some Leafs players.
(In Keefe’s defence, the man’s job was literally on the line for at least two seasons. And, as we all expected, Keefe did take the fall for the repeated playoff failures. No Leafs core player has.)
Armed with the baked-in comfort that comes with a Stanley Cup ring and 14 years more experience, Berube is simply sweating less under the Toronto spotlight (so far).
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To this observer, Berube seems less detailed but more natural. Less insightful, perhaps, but more direct. Quicker to smile and to brush off a bad loss.
No decoder ring necessary. What you see is what you get.
Shorter practices, briefer meetings. One consistent message — check hard, protect our net, drive theirs — regardless of opponent.
“I like that,” Simon Benoit said. “Hockey’s a pretty simple game. Sometimes when you try to overthink it, that’s when it gets complicated.”
Berube guards his guys — a sore groin is the Caramilk secret, a bad back is Colonel Sanders’ recipe — but won’t retract public criticism for poor play.
Last week, when the Nashville Predators rolled through Toronto, Berube spoke gushingly of Ryan O’Reilly, a former player. Said he loved him. And following the Leafs’ loss in Pittsburgh Saturday night, Berube warmly embraced fellow ex-Blue Noel Acciari.
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While all hockey teams speak of playing “the right way,” there is no one way to coach a winner.
Berube was a notorious face-puncher in a former life. He can be gruff and blunt and scary and curse with the best of ’em. But, like Keefe, he too has earned the rep of “players’ coach.” He just goes about it differently.
And while Berube will be the one lauded for prioritizing defence — it literally won him a championship in St. Louis — Keefe’s high-scoring Devils have been tremendous in that regard.
Since Keefe took the helm, New Jersey has tightened up dramatically, going from 26th in goals against per game (3.43) to sixth (2.73).
Two things can be true: It was high time for Toronto to move on from Keefe, and he is a good coach.
If they can keep their new teams trending in a positive direction (and keep getting saves), both Berube and Keefe should earn Jack Adams consideration and home ice in Round 1.
We’ll never forget the bold prediction Keefe’s original booster, Kyle Dubas, made at his end-of-season press conference in 2022, the off-season Toronto re-endorsed Keefe instead of courting high-profile free agents like Barry Trotz and Peter DeBoer.
“My reason for that is my belief in Sheldon,” Dubas said at the time. “I think Sheldon will continue to get better. And I think when we speak of Sheldon in 10 or 15 years from now, it will be in the same way you speak of those two great coaches now.
“That will be played out here in Toronto.”
No, Mr. Dubas, it didn’t play out in Toronto.
But there is still time for it to play out.
