The Toronto Marlies are currently dealing with an absence of one of their players as he tries to figure out if he sees a future with the Toronto Maples Leafs organization or not.
David Kampf was one of the last cuts at Leafs training camp and was swiftly placed on waivers and then sent down to the AHL for the first time since he joined Toronto in 2021. Now on his second contract with the team, he was always a depth piece throughout those years -- but with general manager Brad Treliving going out and targeting more forward depth this offseason, Kampf was a casualty.
And according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Kampf is away from the team as he contemplates his future in the organization.
“The Toronto Marlies are playing tonight in Chicago in the American Hockey League, and he’s not with them. I was told there’s a possibility he could play tomorrow, but I think that’s unlikely,” he said. “David Kampf has taken a couple of days to kind of think about his future. Obviously, he’s not playing with the Maple Leafs right now; he’s in a bit of a roster and salary cap crunch situation, and he got a little bit frustrated. I think everybody understands, he wants to play in the NHL and he’s an NHL player.”
Kampf is in the third year of his four-year contract that carries a $2.4-million AAV. With him down in the AHL, $1.25 million of that cap hit is on the Maple Leafs' books.
Especially considering that the Leafs have been without Scott Laughton all season and we've seen depth forwards like Steven Lorentz be out with an injury, Toronto not needing to call on Kampf as a depth center or just to be a healthy player on its roster, is very telling what they think of him.
What does the future hold? We'll just have to see. It could be a mutual agreement to terminate the deal and he could head back to play overseas in Europe, or try to find a job with another team on a league-minimum deal to keep the NHL dream alive.
In four games with the Marlies this season, Kampf has earned one assist.