Toronto Marlies: Sheldon Keefe’s coaching milestone well deserved
The Toronto Marlies head coach notched his 100th win behind the bench showing the impact Sheldon Keefe has had in a short stint with the team.
Despite the amount of turnover that the Toronto Marlies roster has been through, they continue to remain a consistent contender in the AHL and a big reason for that is the steady leadership of Sheldon Keefe.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs made the changes to their management and coaching staff, the addition of Sheldon Keefe is usually not discussed enough. In his first season behind the bench, Keefe led the Marlies to their best regular season in franchise history. The team finished with 54 wins and 114 points, but were unable to get the team to the finals.
It was a tougher test for Keefe in his second season with William Nylander, Connor Brown, and Zach Hyman making the jump to the NHL. The team still qualified for the playoffs but were eliminated in the second round.
Now going into this season there is a lot of optimism surrounding this Marlies team with the strong balance of youth and veteran leadership. Players like Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson, Travis Dermott, Nikita Soshnikov, Frederik Gauthier were knocking on the door during training camp for the Leafs and are looking to keep their name in the conversation for a call up at some point this season.
That 2-1 win in Springfield was number 100 in the AHL for Sheldon Keefe. Maybe more impressive? In only 156 games. #Marlies
— Todd Crocker (@ToddCrocker) October 15, 2017
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The fact that Keefe has been able to achieve this milestone even though the Marlies have been more focused on player development over results is no easy task. Obviously being a successful team does help young players in their development and that has certainly worked in the Leafs in their turnaround.
The biggest advantage that Keefe has going forward is the strong depth in goal with a rotation of Calvin Pickard, Garret Sparks and Kasimir Kaskisuo. The team finished a stretch of playing three games in three days where they went 2-1 moving their record to 4-1 five games into the season.
One player that has thrived so far has been 2017 first round pick, Timothy Liljegren. The 19-year old has a goal and two assists in four games this season playing alongside Dermott. Playing with a stable partner like Dermott will help Liljegren develop into the Leafs system and so far the decision to have him stay in North America has been paying off.
It certainly helps that the spotlight is not solely on him and while it will take time for him to reach his full potential, Keefe is willing to put the young defenceman in a position to be challenged.
One player that people should not be sleeping on is Johnsson who is second in scoring for the Marlies with two goals and two assists in five games. The 23-year-old continues to impress with his strong drive to the net and it would be no surprise if he gets the call to the Leafs if there is an injury.
Next: Observations from the Leafs 4-3 OT win over Montreal
The Marlies return home to take on the Charlotte Checkers for a two game series and look to continue their impressive start to the season.