Screen Shots: Toronto Maple Leafs, Phil Kessel and Full Face Shields in Jr. A
Adam Proteau discusses the Toronto Maple Leafs extending Sheldon Keefe, Phil Kessel's ironman streak and implementing full face shields in Jr. A.
This is Screen Shots, a regular THN.com feature in which we look at a few different hockey topics and break them down in a few short paragraphs. Let’s move on right to the nitty-gritty, shall we?
The Toronto Maple Leafs extended the contract of coach Sheldon Keefe Wednesday, taking away Keefe’s pending lame-duck status that would’ve hounded him throughout the 2023-24 season.
Under team president Brendan Shanahan’s leadership, the Leafs always aim to be a step ahead of situations that would provoke angst among Toronto fans and media, and this news reflects that mindset. Had the Buds not extended Keefe, he would’ve heard about it virtually every night this coming season. Now, he can put the potentially inflammatory to rest and concentrate on his job behind the bench.
As most hockey fans know by now, there is no salary cap for coaches or management, and this is an area Toronto can use its financial largesse to give them a competitive advantage. Leafs ownership had been in a similar situation with Keefe’s predecessor, Mike Babcock, who was paid to sit home after he’d been fired in November 2019. And although Keefe now has job security through the next three seasons, don’t make the mistake of believing the Leafs will keep him as their bench boss through the remainder of the new contract. If Toronto struggles for an extended time, or if the Leafs fail to make it beyond the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring, it’s entirely possible that Shanahan and GM Brad Treliving move on from Keefe and absorb the two years that now are owed to Keefe.
Keefe can now relax, but that doesn’t mean the pressure on him has lessened. To the contrary – he’s got the same high expectations, and his new contract doesn’t take any of the heat off of him.
A Sportsnet report earlier this week focused on UFA winger Phil Kessel and his willingness to sacrifice his ironman status to sign an NHL contract.
His streak currently sits at 1,064 consecutive regular-season games, and while the next-most active streak is Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns at 761 games, it’s a miracle that Burns has lasted this long considering his robust physical style of play.
All Kessel is worried about at this point is playing on a bona fide Cup contender. And, given that Kessel is starting to show his age – last season, he averaged just 12:49 of ice time per game – there aren’t going to be many teams lining up to sign him to a one-year, league-minimum contract.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Kessel’s NHL days are done. There could be a circumstance in which a Cup contender deals with a training camp injury to one of their veterans, and Kessel becomes a decent replacement option at a low-cost, decent-reward price tag. But he almost assuredly is going to have to wait it out over the next few weeks before a team chooses to take him on. Cap constraints are a serious concern for most teams, and even a minimum-salary contract can’t be handed out until a player is placed on long-term injured reserve. And that doesn’t happen until the regular season begins.
Kessel has had an outstanding career, but like so many before him, he’s teetering his way toward retirement. There’s no shame in that, nor in wanting to play so much that he’s prepared to be a healthy scratch every so often just to be in a position to play games that matter. Virtually all players are very competitive, and they stay that way from their first NHL game through their final one. Good luck to Kessel as he tries to stay in hockey’s top league.
Finally, here’s a news story from Canada’s east coast, where the Maritime Jr. (A) Hockey League is reacting to Hockey Canada’s mandated change that forces all Jr. A players to wear full face shields, such as cages or full visors. Predictably, some players and team officials spoke out against the rule, but Hockey Nova Scotia executive director Mike Field made it clear why the change is necessary:
“Player safety is the ultimate goal with this,” Field told CTV News. “We have seen it implemented at the Jr. B and C levels. We have results showing that there are less facial and eye injuries (when full face shields are worn). We are hoping that it does the same in Jr. A.”
We first discussed this new rule last November, and we feel exactly the same way as we did back then. If there’s proof this move helps preserve the safety of players – or at least mitigates the type of gruesome injuries we’ve seen to visor-less and mask-less players over the years, it’s a move that absolutely has to be made.
Sure, we hear grumbling every time a new rule is implemented, and that always happens when crusty old players or management members have their workplace rules questioned. But the truth of the matter is this: players always find a way to acclimate to new surroundings, and this case is no different. They will adjust, and fewer of them will lose an eye or have their careers ended because of something that can be addressed by modern technologies and progressive initiatives.
It might not be the cool thing to do among players, but keeping them healthy for as long as possible is exactly what the game’s gatekeepers ought to be doing. Hockey needs as many athletes to stay active as they can, and this latest move goes a long way toward making that happen.