By Jonas Siegel (The Athletic)

Things around the Leafs sure changed after Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach in November.

The offence kicked up a notch, new and previously unexplored combinations took shape and the long-beleaguered special teams improved. Over 47 games with Keefe behind the bench for the first time in the NHL, the Leafs posted the eighth-best record (.628 points percentage) in hockey with a plus-22 goal differential. They failed to win a playoff series for the fourth year in a row though, dropping a five-game series to Columbus earlier this month.

What did we learn about Keefe during his first year with the Leafs? How did his methods work? Most of all, how was he different from Mike Babcock, the Stanley Cup-winning coach, he replaced?

Let’s take a deep dive into all of those questions.

Click here to continue reading on The Athletic.