Keefe stabilized the team he inherited from Mike Babcock back in November 2019, and, in all but 2019-20, his Leafs teams coasted into the playoffs each season, which can’t be taken totally for granted.
It does have to be kept in mind he inherited something of a turnkey operation in terms of the high-end offensive skill on the roster — Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly were all in the lineup from the beginning of Keefe’s reign. But in addition to the team generally scoring more than enough in the regular season, the progress the group made defensively over Keefe’s tenure — specifically the 200-foot buy-in from the team’s top offensive players — was generally commendable.