The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe to a two-year contract extension, the organization announced Tuesday.
Keefe has spent the past four seasons as Marlies coach and led the team to its first Calder Cup championship one season ago.
“Over the last four seasons Sheldon has done a great job developing our individual prospects into Maple Leafs while also guiding the Marlies deep into the playoffs in each of his four seasons with the organization, including the Calder Cup in 2018,” Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said in the press release. “Ensuring that Sheldon remains tasked with guiding the development of our prospects was very important to our program and the reason we began the discussion to extend Sheldon months ago.”
The 38-year-old Keefe has a record of 189-87-20-1 with the Marlies and holds the franchise record for most wins and highest winning percentage.
Prior to joining the Marlies in 2015, Keefe was head coach of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds for three seasons. His GM for two of those years in the OHL was none other than Dubas.
“It’s been a privilege and honour to be part of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and head coach of the Toronto Marlies for the past four seasons,” Keefe said in the press release. “In my conversations with the Leafs over the past several months, I felt that staying on with this club was the best decision for me, my family and my development. I’m incredibly proud of our recent achievements as a club and I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue to develop young Maple Leafs.”
