NASHVILLE — Brad Treliving’s first roster change with the Maple Leafs as general manager: Signing David Kämpf to a four-year deal with an annual cap of $2.4 million.
The Leafs locked up the 28-year-old three days before he would have become an unrestricted free agent. They did so by offering Kkampf the security of a four-year contract in exchange for a slightly lower cap hit. Kkampf and his agent JP Barry were eyeing a $3 million to $3.5 million cap hit in the open market.
Comparables for Kampf included, in relation to the cap hit, Brandon Tanev ($3.5 million), Barclay Goodrow ($3.6 million) and Colton Sissons ($2.8 million).
The deal is similar to the one the Leafs signed with Calle Järnkrok last summer (four-year, $2.1 million cap-hit), but with a slightly higher cap-hit to reflect the fact that Kampf is younger and a center that would certainly attract interest in a free agent market shorting that position. That and a rising cap.
Kkampf has grown to love Toronto and the Leafs over the course of his two seasons and has chosen to stay.
His last two-year contract was capped at $1.5 million.
Barry had been in talks with Leafs assistant GM Brandon Pridham about a fight overtime since the start of last season. In short, it was a long process. However, most of those negotiations took place when the Leafs had Kyle Dubas as their GM.
Treliving replaced Dubas on May 31. He spoke to Barry about Kampf and exactly four weeks later, with Pridham still overseeing the negotiations, the Leafs finally arrived at an amount that convinced Kampf to forego the open market and stay.
In other words, the Treliving-led Leafs moved to make Kkampf stay.
It’s an interesting bet, a low risk bet, but a bet nonetheless.
Kkampf was the team’s fourth-biggest center in last year’s playoffs – behind Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Ryan O’Reilly.
It wasn’t a big deal to keep Kkampf at this point since he was raising less money. When Kampf makes $2.4 million annually, however, it becomes a little less than ideal. Under these conditions, Kkampf should be the Leafs’ full-time No. 3 center. And to be fair, he has been for most of the past two seasons. The tricky part is that Kampf is probably a bit underqualified on offense to hold that position when it counts.
As the Leafs’ No. 3 in the 2021 playoffs, Kkampf played nearly 17.5 minutes a night and while scoring two goals, seemed overwhelmed offensively when he had William Nylander at his side. Kkampf played 14 minutes a night during the postseason last spring, not scoring in 11 playoff games and finishing the game with just three assists.
In 27 playoff games of his career, Kamp has three goals and three assists.
He managed a then-career-best 11 goals and 26 points in the No. 1 regular season with the Leafs and had a career-best 27 points last season. His 23 five-for-five points were eighth among the Leafs, just behind Alex Kerfoot (24), who played slightly fewer minutes, and Järnkrok (29).
A third line around Kampf can be successful defensively, but will always lack it offensively. This puts even more pressure on the top two teams to do something they haven’t consistently been able to do in the postseason.
Kkampf’s playing ability was at its best when he had speedsters Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev on his wings. It was less pronounced and less effective last season, that is, when Engvall was dealt out and Mikheyev chose a new team last summer.
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe could no longer assume that putting Kkampf on the ice for a defensive zone draw would cause the Leafs to go on offense like it used to.
Kamp found a connection with Sam Lafferty in the second round against Florida. In more than 37 minutes, the Leafs won shot attempts (41-29), scoring chances (21-15), goals (4-2) and goals expected (54 percent) as Kkampf and Lafferty shared the ice.
It’s conceivable that the Leafs could sign these two together for the third-row squad early next season.
| line | Lw | C | RW |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jarnkrok | matthews | Marner |
2 | knees | Tavares | Nylander |
3 | fight | Lafferty | |
4 |
Kkampf wouldn’t be back if he weren’t the favorite of returning Leafs head coach Keefe. Keefe is a big fan of Kämpf’s intelligence and reliability on the defensive end. Kkampf had more penalty minutes than any other Leafs forward, trailing only with Mitch Marner as the Leafs defended against an empty goal.
The deal buys up his 29-, 30-, 31- and 32-year-old’s seasons.
Kämpf’s return ensures another play from last season returns to the Leafs. Not exactly a centerpiece, but still a reasonably standout piece from the last two playoff disappointments.
The only Leaf to have a longer contract than Kampf (2027), at least for now, is Morgan Rielly (2030).
(Top Photo: Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
Statistics and research courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, Hockey Reference and Cap Friendly