Brad Treliving of the Toronto Maple Leafs has finally made a move with the Toronto Maple Leafs roster and it’s not what many would have predicted.
David Kampf has been signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-year extension carrying an AAV of $2.4 million.
The Czech center has been a reliable defensive player for the Leafs and will look to carry out that value over the next 4 years.
That is certainly a long time.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign David Kampf
While at points throughout the season Kampf was rumored to be able to make up to ~$3.5M per year, this contract comes under the supposed “market value”.
With that said, Kampf doesn’t provide much offensive output for the Toronto Maple Leafs and will likely push some depth pieces down the lineup.
Holmberg, for example, played solid hockey with the Leafs, and will likely now have less of an opportunity, even though he could have done pretty much the same thing for $1.5 million less.
Holmberg deserves to be given games in the NHL as a promising prospect, so hopefully this doesn’t prevent that, but it more than likely will.
It is important to acknowledge that even though there is a limited offensive output from Kampf, his defensive skills have helped the Leafs greatly. That said, he took a complete nosedive once Pierre Engvall was traded.
Kampf can be trusted late in a game, and for key defensive zone draws. Kampf, though has had some struggles in chemistry with players, and ultimately played his best hockey with Mikheyev and Engvall, who are both no longer part of the Toronto Maple Leafs
. Kampf works hard both on and off the ice, there’s no doubting that, but with limited cap space, real arguments can be made that they could have found a replacement for him cheaper, or even had Holmberg become that replacement, although less defensive minded.
Ultimately while there are arguments to be made that Kampf took a discount to stay with the Leafs, just because someone would have overpaid more doesn’t make this a good deal.
I’m not so sure that it was worth the cap space that the Leafs have now given up. Look for Kampf to still be an effective defensive player with the Leafs as he hopes to find linemates that help him succeed and hopefully boost his offensive numbers and metrics slightly.