TORONTO – Sheldon Keefe puts it right up there with the most “complete” coaching staff he’s headed up since he took over the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench nearly four years ago.
Replacing power-play czar Spencer Carbery (who graduated to a head gig with the Washington Capitals) with 51-year-old Guy Boucher and adding another ring to the room with assistant Mike Van Ryn, Keefe will enter 2023’s training camp leading a five-man coaching crew.
“It’s as complete a staff as we’ve had in my time,” Keefe proclaimed Thursday, taking a break from the long-awaited start to his vacation to discuss his new hires.
“I’m even more excited to dig in and get to work even further on preparing our team for camp and getting to know the individuals even that much more.”
Boucher has been out of the league since his firing from the Ottawa Senators in March of 2019, but he arrives in Toronto with more NHL head-coaching experience (424 games) and playoff series victories (four) than Keefe himself.
General manager Brad Treliving — busy with free agency, plus contract negotiations with Ilya Samsonov, Auston Matthews, and William Nylander — tasked Keefe with finding the best support possible.
And Keefe’s relationship with Boucher dates back years. The two coaches have kept in contact, and Keefe revealed that he had considered Boucher for a Leafs assistant role in off-seasons past.
Boucher, in fact, came close to landing Toronto’s head job back in 2015, before club president Brendan Shanahan ultimately bet on Mike Babcock, the most in-demand free agent that summer.
That Boucher has been out of the NHL for four years pushed Keefe to take his time in a thorough interview process.
“I wouldn’t call it hesitation necessarily, but that of course is why you probably spend even more time talking with him, in making sure that he still has that fire and that passion for coaching and is still in tune with what’s happened in the league,” Keefe explained. “Guy has been connected with the league in his role in media. So that, in itself, helps ease some of that.
“He’s very passionate about the power play, first and foremost. So, that was exciting right from the start.”
Boucher will be responsible for enhancing the Eastern Conference’s most dangerous 5-on-4 unit, a group that has now added expert quarterback John Klingberg.
The 44-year-old Van Ryn, a 353-game NHL D-man, is a London, Ont., native who finished his pro career with the Maple Leafs in 2009. He then developed his coaching resume in the OHL (Niagara IceDogs, Kitchener Rangers) and AHL (Houston Aeros, Tucson Roadrunners) before joining the St. Louis Blues bench in 2018-19 and promptly winning a Stanley Cup while overseeing their burly blue line.
Van Ryn takes over the defence corps and will pitch in on Toronto’s 12th-ranked penalty kill, which will remain the primary responsibility of assistant Dean Chynoweth.
All four men will stand on the bench and collaborate, while faceoff specialist Manny Malhotra moves up to an “eye in the sky” position during games.
Toss in goalie coach Curtis Sanford, video coaches Sam Kim and Jordan Bean, plus coaching development associate Duanté Abercrombie, and the Leafs have spared no expense on men with whistles.
“These are very important hires,” Keefe said.
“I’m very fortunate that we have an organization here that will provide me with any of the resources that I think can help us win, and there’s no hesitation to add an additional guy to our staff. And because of that, I think you just get excited.
“You feel really confident that with the resources you have, you’re going to — most importantly — be able to provide the players with everything that they need to be at their best.”
As for Keefe himself, the head coach is entering the final season of his own contract with Toronto. He appears unworried that his extension talks with Treliving have taken a back seat during a hectic Maple Leafs off-season.
“It’s something that’s been mentioned a number of times from Brad, that we’re going to get to that. Really, both of us have been focused on our own individual goals,” Keefe said.
“Brad has a number of other things that are at the top of the list for him. I’m not too concerned about it at this point in time.
“I’ve really just enjoyed my time working with Brad and have been so focused on this process that the other stuff, to me, will work itself out over time.”
