Kampf is entering the second year of a four-year, $9.6 million contract he signed in the summer of 2023.
Already allocating a substantial sum of their available cap space to amplify the club’s backend and solidifying a goalie tandem on the opening day of NHL free agency, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to make some money moves when it comes to bolstering their offense.
Despite bringing back Max Domi on a four-year, $15 million deal, the team lost the rights to forward Tyler Bertuzzi as he signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, cementing a lack of forward depth on the wing paired with a prior need for help up the middle. With the first wave of NHL free agency completed, the club will have to create a game plan to address these needs.
A leading option to clear cap space is the trade route, and according to the Toronto Star’s Nick Kypreos, forward David Kampf, who is the club’s sixth highest-paid forward in 2024-25, could become a viable option to ship out with his $2.4 million cap hit over the next three seasons.
“The bottom-six forwards need some attention as well. Is David Kampf still in the plans to lead the Leafs’ checking line? There’s a good chance they cut bait there as well,” said Kypreos. “Can he be replaced by prospect Fraser Minton or is it time to look for an NHL-ready player elsewhere?"
As a team that is heavily invested in four forwards, otherwise known as the ‘Core Four’, which sees the group of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares taking up over 50% of the team’s salary cap, it’s safe to say the club needs to use every dollar with purpose. For someone like Kampf, who is entering the second year of a four-year, $9.6 million contract, his services may be one the team can no longer afford.
Kampf, who primarily centers the fourth line, carries a $2.4 million cap hit and could be on the outside looking in when considering the cap constraints the team faces – especially given prospects are waiting in the wings at a much lower price. Though his offensive production saw a dip in 2023-24 where he scored eight goals and added 11 assists in 78 games in comparison to the 2022-23 season, which saw the Czechia native score 27 points in 82 games, his most valuable asset is on the first penalty-killing unit as a more defensively reliable player.
However, following the club’s opening-round series loss to the Boston Bruins in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kampf showed flashes of his capabilities to chip in offensively at the Men’s World Hockey Championship. He finished with two goals, five assists, and a team-leading +9 rating en route to a gold medal in his second-ever experience at the tournament.
In his role, with his price and term, he could be a fit on a plethora of teams with the space to add a defensive forward at a reasonable cost. Nonetheless, as it stands, the Leafs will have to jump through some hoops to add to their offensive prowess and may have to get creative to do so, but replacing Kampf with a cheaper option seems like a plausible course of action.
