"Sheldon's under contract for next season and I would be surprised at this point if anyone was making a decision on whether he'll coach that season other than the new general manager.
It's admittedly a tough spot for him because I'm sure he's wondering what's going on and there's probably not a lot of clarity that can be sent his way and there are some other openings out there. So, part of what he'd be thinking is 'if you're going to let me go, you might as well let me go sooner than later' because there could be other places that he could work, with Washington, the Rangers, Anaheim, Columbus.. those teams currently without [a head coach].
It is just 'wait and see' for him. I still don't expect the Leafs' search to drag on too long and probably one of the first immediate orders of business will be for the GM [to decide] do you want to just move forward with the coach, who has won a whole lot of games in the regular season, but not been able to have as much playoff success as you'd like or do you maybe just cut him loose?" - Johnston on Keefe awaiting the hiring of a new GM, who will determine his fate