New Jersey Devils tap Brampton’s Sheldon Keefe for head coach after Maple Leafs firing

Former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach and Brampton’s own Sheldon Keef has made a deal with the Devils.

Exactly two weeks after Keef said he had parted ways with Toronto, the New Jersey Devils announced the former NHLer and Brampton native has signed on as head coach of the Newark-based team.

“Woke up this morning, got ourselves a coach. Welcome home, Sheldon,” the team said in a post on social media announcing the deal.

“Speak of the Devil…Let’s go, New Jersey!” Keef said in a post.

The Leafs fired Keefe following the franchise’s loss to the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. ​He’s now the Devils’ fifth coach since 2019 and third since March, replacing Travis Green who left to coach the Ottawa Senators.

Keefe began his hockey journey with the Chinguacousy Minor Hockey Association and was drafted into the NHL in 1999 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Transitioning into coaching, Keefe achieved accolades with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds before taking on the head coach position for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019.

A recent inductee to the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, Keef said in a video statement that coaching the Maple Leafs was “a dream come true for a boy from Brampton.”

– With files from The Canadian Press