The Toronto Maple Leafs and center David Kampf are at a standstill. The two sides have been unable to find a way out of the conundrum they have dug themselves into.
For starters, the Maple Leafs have been adamant about placing other centers ahead of Kampf on their depth chart. Beyond Auston Matthews and John Tavares, Nic Roy, Max Domi, and Scott Laughton are all ahead of Kampf.
Second, Kampf did his best to play his way out of the Leafs’ lineup. While his defensive play is always good, his complete absence of scoring has made him highly undesirable for the Maple Leafs.
The situation has gotten to the point where the Leafs buried Kampf in the AHL and can’t find anyone to take him. Meanwhile, Kampf, as Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest Saturday Headlines segment, is frustrated and has taken time away to ponder his fate.
My colleague Thomas Williams did a great job of covering Friedman’s comments on the matter. But what was truly telling was that Friedman suggested that a contract termination could be the solution to the impasse.
Friedman mentioned two other instances of similar cases. Specifically, Conor Sheary and Brandon Saad’s names came up as examples of players who mutually agreed to terminate their contracts in hopes of getting another shot elsewhere.
Sheary left the Tampa Bay Lightning and has found a new lease on the NHL with the Rangers and former coach Mike Sullivan. Saad left the St. Louis Blues last season and caught on with the Vegas Golden Knights.
If it gets to the point where Kampf and the Toronto Maple Leafs terminate the 30-year-old’s contract, he could more easily find another opportunity with an NHL club.
Nothing imminent between Maple Leafs and Kampf
Friedman was careful to note that nothing imminent is on the horizon between David Kampf and the Toronto Maple Leafs. His thoughts are speculative at this point.
However, Friedman is onto something. Unless the Leafs can find someone desperate enough to take the final two years of Kampf’s contract at $2.4 million AAV, there’s really nothing else the club can do to help Kampf get out of the situation he’s in.
If the club can’t trade him, and he doesn’t want to play in the AHL, there’s no other way around the situation. Kampf and the Maple Leafs must figure out a way to get out from under this situation.
It seems like a mutual contract termination could be the best way out of the impasse. Perhaps that conversation might pick up a little more steam in the coming weeks.
However, fans should keep an eye on the current situation this season. Plenty of teams are getting hammered by injuries. The Vancouver Canucks are a prime example of that. So, there’s a chance that the Leafs are just biding their time for someone desperate enough to call about David Kampf.