Sheldon Keefe makes a controversial, last minute, change to the Leafs lineup.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have a new head coach in Sheldon Keefe but that does not mean that everything that former Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock preached has gone out the window. 

One of the big subjects of controversy during Babcock's recent tenure as the Maple Leafs bench boss was his treatment of National Hockey League veteran Jason Spezza. Spezza signed a team friendly deal with the Maple Leafs during the summer, presumably for a chance to win a Stanley Cup Championship as well as a chance to do it while being closer to home, but was used sparingly by Babcock. In fact Spezza was often made a healthy scratch for games under Babcock's leadership, including for one now infamous game in which he had members of his family in attendance to watch him play. It seems however that Babcock was not the only man to have some doubts about Spezza's ability to go night in and night out, this in spite of strong performances from Spezza has of late.

According to a report from Toronto Maple Leafs insider Mark Masters of TSN, it appears as though Sheldon Keefe has now made Spezza a healthy scratch once again, opting instead to bring in veteran center Alex Kerfoot who will be fresh off of a suspension this evening. 

According to Masters' colleague at TSN, Kristen Shelton, the Maple Leafs have made the decision due to their heavy practice and travel schedule as of late, feeling that the 36 year old veteran is in need of the extra rest. Somehow I suspect that Spezza would likely disagree with that assessment. 

"[We wanted] to put [Kerfoot] back in the middle, but Spezza has played well for us," said Keefe. "He's produced very well and I've been happy to have him on our bench and on our team."

Spezza has really come on strong for the Maple Leafs over the past few games and now currently sits at 3 goals and 10 assists for a combined 10 points through just the first 17 games of the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season. Spezza does also boast a plus minus rating of -3 on the season, but you have to imagine that this latest scratch, under a new head coach, has got to be frustrating for such a well established and well respected veteran of the game.