Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe
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After returning from the bye week, head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed the callups of Alex Steeves and Joe Woll, preparation for the upcoming trade deadline, the state of the team’s bottom six, and his goals for the final 30 games of the regular season.

Practice Lines – February 9

What is the status of your three goalies at this time?

Keefe: Murray is dealing with an injury and working his way back. Samsonov has played a lot for us and played really well; I think the break will be a good thing for him. At the same time, he has to get right back into the same routine and get himself back up and going. He elected to skate on his own yesterday, which is a sign he was eager to get back at it.

Joe Woll is a guy we are really excited about. The injury to Murray creates an opportunity for Joe to come up here. He was not healthy to come up earlier in the season when we had injuries in goal. He comes up at a time when he should have an abundance of confidence with how he has played. He has been tremendous.

I don’t know if his numbers could be any better than they are. He is coming off playing in the AHL All-Star Game. He will get some time here, I would think, to get into the net.

To that end, we will give Murray his time to get back healthy and back in the net working towards getting ready to play. In the meantime, with Samsonov and Woll, it is a good chance for those guys to get some time.

What have you liked about Conor Timmins’ game since joining the team? What allows the organization to see him as a fit for the next few years?

Keefe: He is a guy that clearly hadn’t played a lot of hockey. Because of injury and circumstance, he hasn’t really been able to get any traction in his development on the ice and physically off the ice in terms of getting stronger and working on his skating. But he has shown a willingness to work.

Right away, that helps a player and is somebody you want to embrace, especially for a guy who has shown immediately — despite the fact that he has a ways to go in terms of his development — the tremendous ability to make plays, tremendous confidence with the puck, vision, and poise on the ice. And he is a big guy who shoots right and has a pedigree to him.

There are lots of reasons to invest in a player like that. At times, we have talked to him and told him that even when he played well, he was coming out and we want him to work on some other things. He has been invested in himself, and we are investing in him. We think the best is yet to come for him for sure.

Kyle Dubas was mentioning that he thinks he has seen growth in the team in terms of the team’s play in back-to-back situations, during injury adversity, and in the leaders seeking out criticism to see what they can improve on. How do you describe the growth you have seen from the group in that regard?

Keefe: I would say that has been the area we have been most excited about throughout the season. We have shown growth in those areas for sure.

You can look at how we dealt with how we started the season, the tremendous pressure that was building around that, and how we found our way through it to play really good hockey.

You are met with an abundance of injuries all on defense. You find your way through that.

You have injuries in goal. You find your way through that.

There are lots of positive signs there with our team in lots of different areas that we have been really happy with — both in the mindset of the team as a whole and some of the individuals with how they’ve dealt with their own injuries or their role, ice time, or responsibilities changing.

Through all of that, we have been able to give lots of opportunities to our Marlies, whether that is on defense or on forward. Erik Källgren has done a good job for us when he came up here. Now, we get a chance for Joe Woll to get some time.

Lots of things have happened through a season that we found our way through and have still put ourselves in position with the remaining games.

What has Marlies head coach Greg Moore said about Alex Steeves’ play with the Marlies, and what have you seen yourself from him?

Keefe: In talking to Greg throughout the season, Steeves is a guy who has worked and been consistent in his game, and yet there have been some others at different times who have been playing really strongly and got the call above him. He has been patient and has continued to work.

He is a guy who I thought had a really good training camp with us and showed really well. You could tell he was really hungry to earn a spot. It has probably taken a little bit longer than he would like to get this chance — and frankly, maybe even longer than we had anticipated. We have kind of given other guys a chance here knowing that we had seen Steeves last season.

We were satisfied with his camp. We felt he would come up at some point with the chance to play and show what he can do. I thought he had a tremendous practice today. You can tell he is a really hungry, focused, and committed guy.

We are excited to give him a run here.

Roughly, when do you want to get the fourth line solidified so the trio knows what it is going into the playoffs?

Keefe: I don’t know if you can put a timeline on it. Of course, you would like to have everything solidified right now. It would be great. The nature of the season, the schedule, and injuries being what they are, our situation is that we are trying to find that right mix.

I think it is important that we give some guys some opportunity down there from the Marlies. I do believe we have a cluster of guys that are in similar situations. They are very, very good — if not dominant — AHL players and have good qualities about their game that can allow them to come in and play in the bottom six, whether that is McMann, Joey Anderson, Dryden Hunt, and the rest of the list of guys.

We think there is a cluster of guys that can help. We think it is important we give them a chance here — especially right now when we are in this window of time leading up to the deadline — and get a sense of where everyone is at before reassessing it from there.

I do think it is important, at the same time, to have some competition down there. We are still at that point where, as much as you want the line or the bottom six as a whole to solidify itself, you have to be healthy to do it. Auston is out, so you have to move somebody up and it changes up the mix in itself. You still want to have the competition and guys competing for that spot.

That is really where we are at. It is a good chance for these guys who have been working hard to get a look. If they show they can help us, maybe it is one less thing that we need.

We are starting to see some trades across the league now. How would you describe your role in informing Kyle Dubas what you want? Has it picked up over the last little bit?

Keefe: Between Kyle and Brendan both, you are in constant conversation with them and dialogue. Whether it is pre or post-game, you are talking with them. You see them on practice days and whatnot.

There is enough going on here, especially now that the season is starting back up again. The games just come too quickly to focus outside of that. We do have enough discussions of a casual nature to know how I feel about the group, but those guys are going to make the decisions.

My job is to get the group as best prepared. We talked about the young players who come up here and are inexperienced from the Marlies; it is my job to put them in positions where they can be properly evaluated. Brendan and Kyle can get a sense of exactly where we are at there. Their decision process can be a lot more clear.

It is a 30-game run now to the playoffs. What is the team looking to accomplish over the next two months?

Keefe: Obviously, you want to get your game in order, get healthy, and stay healthy. But for us, we have to take it a day at a time. You know what you are working toward for sure, but for us coming out of a break, you want to make sure you are getting your game back up and running.

We are going to be playing back-to-back nights right away out of the gate. Today was about getting the guys back going. It is going to be really important for us in the short term to find our game again and find it quickly.

Sometimes, a break is great. Sometimes, it is not because it can disrupt your rhythm, your flow, your structure, and all of those kinds of things. We want it to be a positive thing for us so that we can come back energized, recharged, and ready to get back to our game.

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