TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Gino Reda to discuss Maple Leafs forward David Kampf being placed on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract, the latest with the injuries to Auston Matthews and Anthony Stolarz, how Shane Pinto’s contract extension came together, what it means for his Olympic hopes to make Team USA and the passing of hockey writer and columnist Larry Brooks.
GINO REDA: Loads of news unfolding this morning.
The Ottawa Senators lock up a key pending restricted free agent, an update on when the Toronto Maple Leafs expect to see Auston Matthews and Anthony Stolarz back in their lineup.
But first, Insider Darren Dreger, some breaking news on the David Kampf front.
DARREN DREGER: Yeah, the saga between David Kampf and the Maple Leafs is about to finally end, to be frank here. The Leafs have placed the veteran centreman on waivers with the condition of buyout, or to terminate the contract. It’s a contract termination.
If he clears on Friday, and the expectation is he will clear at a $2.4 million cap hit, then any team in the National Hockey League is free to sign David Kampf as a free agent. The expectation is that there is some level of interest in Kampf, so we’ll have to see how that plays out, but this is essentially a win as well for Brad Treliving and the Maple Leafs.
Obviously, Treliving had exhausted the trade market, and based on that $2.4 million cap hit and the fact that Kampf is a reliable but still a depth forward in the National Hockey League, he couldn’t find fair value or anything that really would move the needle from a Leaf perspective via trade.
His contract will be terminated once he clears and he will have full opportunity to sign somewhere else as early as tomorrow.
REDA: Some other big question marks surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Matthews left Tuesday night’s game in the second period after a couple of collisions with Boston’s Nikita Zadorov. Stolarz never came out for the second after getting shelled for three goals on just 11 shots in that same game.
What are you hearing about updates, and when one or both of these guys could be back?
DREGER: Well, neither is considered to be serious, but we’ve also been down this road before, specific to Matthews. I just want to raise the flag of caution here.
As [TSN Hockey Insider] Chris Johnston reported earlier, the expectation is that Matthews, the captain of the Leafs, will miss at least a week with a lower-body injury.
I know that he was undergoing further testing on Wednesday night. Again, they don’t
believe that it’s going to be long-term beyond that week, but we’ll have to wait and see on a day-by-day basis.
As for Stolarz, the starting goaltender for the Maple Leafs, he left the game on Tuesday against the Boston Bruins after the first period with what they described at the time as an “upper-body issue.” He’s expected to be more day-to-day and less serious than Matthews.
From an injury perspective, as the Leafs get set to take on the Los Angeles Kings, it’s not great with two main pieces in Matthews and Stolarz out, but better news in terms of the goaltender being available, probably, in the next game or two.
REDA: And better news out of the nation’s capital, Shane Pinto gets a four-year, $30 million deal.
Only Tim Stützle and Brady Tkachuk on the Sens’ forward group are going to be making more. How did this all come together, Dregs?
DREGER: I can tell you that the agent for Shane Pinto and general manager Steve Staios of the Ottawa Senators really exhausted every scenario.
You could expect that the club wanted a longer term. Four years is in the best interest of the player.
What is the salary cap going to look like in four years from now? What are the Ottawa Senators going to look like in four years from now?
They went through that process of term and then ultimately settled on four years at an AAV, an annual average salary, of $7.5 million. So, it’s a win-win.
Pinto gets a good chunk of money, $30 million. He controls the term, he’ll have an opportunity after four years to look at the cap and where it sits, and look at the Ottawa Senators. What’s the situation with Tkachuk? Has he been extended at that point?
He’ll get another crack at it, and chances are based on the development of this player, Gino, that he will hit a much bigger deal after the four-year term has expired with this extension.
But I think Ottawa did good work in getting a very important piece of the puzzle for the Senators locked down for the next four-plus years.
REDA: You’ve got to like Pinto’s timing. He’s playing such great hockey while he was looking for a new contract, and it could also be good timing in terms of Team USA in the Winter Olympics, Dregs.
DREGER: Yeah, he’s very much in the mix, there’s no doubt about that. His play has caught the eye of Billy Guerin and Team USA.
It’s not just about his level of productivity. We know that he’s got some offensive punch, he’s proven that through 17 games that the Ottawa Senators have played this year.
But, Gino, I think the attraction is more about the versatility and how defensively responsible Pinto is. He’s a right-shot centreman, so that means that you can take the right-side face offs.
When you’re strategizing and you’re going through building your roster, that’s how detailed management is for all the powerhouses in preparation for the upcoming Olympics.
I think it’s safe to say, it’s accurate to say, that Pinto is definitely on Team USA’s eye.
REDA: We got some sad news earlier today, Dregs. Legendary hockey writer Larry Brooks has passed away.
DREGER: Yeah, after a recent battle with cancer. This is a real tough loss for our industry, Gino.
You knew Larry well, I knew Larry well. “Legendary” is a word that I would use to describe him, “cutting” at times, “fearless”, absolutely no doubt about that.
But among sports columnists, I would say that Larry Brooks was also a leader in the industry of hockey.
He was never afraid to wade into a scrum, ask the tough questions, but I think he earned a tremendous level of respect from players, from coaches, from management, from owners across the hockey world, just based on the fact that he could write a very cutting column and he’d be in the middle of the dressing room the next day to face the music.
Sadly, our industry doesn’t have many of those who are capable or willing to put up the fight that Larry Brooks did, so it was a tough day for our industry. No doubt about that.
REDA: A man of no fear. A true legend in hockey writing.
Alright, Dregs, that’s it for now. We’ve got the full version of Insider Trading coming up with yourself, Pierre, and C.J. on the early edition of SportsCentre.
