David Kampf
David Kampf has been the Maple Leafs trusted soldier for each of the past four seasons. With the ability to be strong in the faceoff circle, along with playing reliable defense at even strength and on the penalty kill, he has been all that the Leafs could ask for in a reliable, bottom-six forward.
Kampf actually impressed during his first season with the club in 2021-22 when he was able to chip in offensively as well. He recorded a career-high 11 goals and 26 points in 82 games that year, and quickly followed it up with another 27-point season in 2022-23. In doing so, his strong overall play netted Kampf a surprising four-year, $10 million contract during the 2023 offseason.
However, his usage has actually been diminished ever since signing the contract. Rather than playing up and down in the lineup as in previous seasons, Kampf has become stuck as the primary 4th line center for the Leafs in each of the past two seasons.
In fact, for this year, he has seen his average ice-time fall to just over 11 minutes per game after hanging around close to 15 minutes a night between 2021-2023. In doing so, his offensive output dropped to just 19 points in 2023-24 and with just one assist to show for to date this season. He even ended up being a healthy scratch for the first time in a while on Tuesday in Columbus.
At a whopping $2.5 million AAV for a fourth-line player producing at less than 0.25 ppg, it seems like a huge overpay. Especially when other candidates such as Pontus Holmberg and Connor Dewar could probably do the exact same job for almost two to three times less in cost.
As a result, Kampf’s days in a Leafs uniform could be numbered when Dewar makes his return from LTIR.