David Kampf is wrestling with what his future in Toronto may look like.
During the Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman discussed the latest on his situation.
“The Toronto Marlies are playing tonight in the American Hockey League, and he’s not with them. I was told there’s a possibility he could play tomorrow, but I think that’s unlikely,” said Friedman.
“David Kampf is taking a couple days to kind of think about his future. Obviously, he’s not playing with the Maple Leafs right now; he’s in a bit of a roster and salary cap crunch situation, and he got a little bit frustrated. I think everybody understands he wants to play in the NHL and he’s an NHL player; it’s a roster and cap crunch that has him down there.”
The 30-year-old Czech, who was waived before the start of the season, has one assist in four games with the Marlies after recording eight goals and 11 assists in 59 games with the Maple Leafs last season.
Across 536 career NHL games with Toronto and the Chicago Blackhawks, he has a total of 143 points (48 goals and 95 assists).
“One of the things that’s been rumoured in the last couple days is there’s been a couple players, Conor Sheary was one, Brandon Saad was one, Filip Zadina was one, who walked (and) terminated their contracts so they could get back to the NHL or get in better situations in the NHL.
“Now I’m not sure that’s going to happen; he is still owed about $4 million on his Toronto contract, but there’s no question that he’s taken some time this weekend to think about his future in the NHL, what he wants do, and we’ll see if the Maple Leafs can find a move this weekend for him, or to clear space, or what next week brings him. But he wants to play, and he’s just taking some time because he’s frustrated right now.”
Kampf’s four-year, $9.6 million contract runs through the 2026-27 season. It carries a $2.4 million cap hit and counts $1.25 million against Toronto’s cap while he’s in the minors.
