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How Sheldon Keefe's Maple Leafs lessons will help the Devils

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Coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs can change a person. Decades of playoff futility keep expectations excruciatingly unmet. The constant scrutiny from media and fans is enough to unnerve the confident and harden the affable.

"I don't know if 'harden' is the right word, but it's an experience," said Sheldon Keefe, who coached the Leafs from 2019 until May.

Keefe, 44, was fired after Toronto was eliminated in the first round by the Boston Bruins. That ended a five-year tenure defined by considerable regular-season success (.