Toronto Maple Leafs officially fire coach Sheldon Keefe

After being eliminated by the Boston Bruins in seven games, this decision was totally inevitable for the Maple Leafs. Despite whatever success they showed in trying to claw back into the series, the reality is that they've continually failed in the playoffs under Keefe's tenure.

The loss to Boston this year marked the seventh first round exit in eight years. In a results oriented business like the NHL, Keefe should've been fired years ago. Still, the Leafs made the decision to let him go despite signing Keefe to a contract extension this year which hasn't kicked in yet.

After the loss to Boston, Keefe himself looked like he knew he was going to be fired. Along with saying that the repeated failure makes messaging fall upon deaf ears, Keefe said that other teams game plan for the Leafs to beat themselves. As the head coach of the team, that's a terrible indictment on his ability to actually win a game, let alone a series.

With Keefe now fired, more major changes may be brewing. The evidence has mounted that this core of players can not break through the playoffs in Toronto, and with their salary structure, can't ice a lineup without glaring holes on defence and goaltending.

For the first time this offseason, there's a real appetite from the Leafs to move on from one of their core four forwards - most likely Mitch Marner. It's been heavily rumoured that the Leafs may ask Marner to waive his No-Move Clause this offseason and grant a trade to another team, but that isn't a guarantee. Surely though, the Leafs and any other smart team wouldn't pay Marner $12M after his career playoff appearances. Worst case Ontario, the Leafs have to walk Marner to free agency.