Despite massive change occurring in Toronto Maple Leafs’ front office throughout the 2023 offseason, the franchise does not appear to be looking to tear down the roster that got them to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in nearly 20 years. This continued before the draft, as they re-signed David Kampf to a four-year contract carrying a $2.4 million per season cap hit.
After spending the first four seasons of his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks, Kampf signed a two-year deal with the Maple Leafs back in the 2021 offseason. Over the last two seasons, he established himself as one of Toronto’s most reliable forwards, as he played in all 82 regular season games while taking on roughly 15 minutes of ice time each night. Sure, he isn’t an offensive dynamo, but he plays a more defensive game, which included the second-most time on the penalty kill throughout the 2022-23 season.
By bringing back Kampf, the Maple Leafs are sticking by one of the guys that their former regime took a low-risk gamble on. He is now part of their core for the next four seasons, and as a solid bottom-six forward that the franchise apparently likes, there really isn’t much risk to this re-signing as they should know exactly what they are getting from him.
Maple Leafs Refuse Change With Kampf Signing
Now, if you’re being an optimist you can look at this re-signing as a team bringing back a player they already have a working reputation with instead of taking another risk by dipping back into the free-agency market. However, there’s also the important question of whether Kampf is worth $2.4 million per season.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t too far off from what consistent bottom-six players make in the NHL. Despite this, you can’t help but think that this money may have been better used elsewhere on the roster, given some of the issues the Maple Leafs have dealt with in recent years. Kampf doesn’t necessarily do any one thing at an elite level, but he is being paid to play like a top-end bottom-six forward, which should bring with it new expectations.
In a vacuum, $2.4 million for Kampf isn’t the worst thing. You can argue that he might be closer to a $2 million forward, but if he fits Toronto’s system well and the coaches like him, then that additional cost might be worthwhile to keep him around.
For a franchise that appeared ready to make some significant change this offseason, paying market value (or slightly above) for a bottom-six forward just doesn’t feel like the right move to make right now. Every dollar counts for a cap-strapped team like the Maple Leafs and moves like this feel more uninspired than exciting.
Once again, this doesn’t mean that re-signing Kampf is a bad move, it just doesn’t feel like the right choice for the Maple Leafs, at least not at that cap hit. Either way, they at least know exactly what they are getting from their bottom six forward.