David Kampf becoming potential offseason buyout candidate for the Maple Leafs

This may be the beginning of the end for David Kampf’s tenure as a Toronto Maple Leaf.

The checking centre has recently lost his spot in Craig Berube’s lineup due to the addition of Scott Laughton, and with Max Domi currently holding down the third-line centre position after being reunited with Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann, Kampf no longer has a secured spot with roughly a month until the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Kampf has appeared in 52 games this season for the Maple Leafs, scoring four goals and 10 points. He’s averaging 12:25 of ice time per game, which is a career low, and with Laughton and Domi under contract for next season, and the possibility that John Tavares will re-sign for one more contract with the Leafs this summer, Kampf has quickly become the odd man out.

The 30-year-old Czechia native has two seasons left on his contract, paying him $2.4 million annually. Kampf owns a 10-team no-trade clause for the 2025-26 season, however, there isn’t any trade protection on his deal for the final season in 2026-27. It’s hard to say if Treliving was looking to move Kampf before this season’s trade deadline, as he was certainly a ‘throw-in’ candidate, considering his cap hit, and who the Maple Leafs were tied to in trade talks.

As far as a buyout structure goes, if GM Brad Treliving decided to go through with this option in the summer, the Maple Leafs would carry the following cap hits for the next four years:

It’s going to come down to if Treliving can find a suitable trade partner, or use the offseason buyout window if the team is looking to move on from the veteran centre. Any deal would, of course, have to make sense for Treliving, and it’s likely he’d have no interest in moving Kampf if there required to be a sweetener in the trade. With just under $800,000 in cap savings for the next two seasons, if Treliving feels that money could be better suited somewhere else in the lineup, and there’s no longer a role for Kampf to play with the Maple Leafs, it’s certainly not out of the question to see Toronto’s GM cut ties.

Kampf last played on Mar.13 against the Florida Panthers with only 8 minutes and 41 seconds of ice time against their Atlantic Division rivals. Berube has been looking for more of an identity of late on the Leafs’ fourth line, and Scott Laughton, who is a much more physical presence and has more offensive upside, has been slotted in Kampf’s spot. For now, he doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

As we enter the home stretch of the 2024-25 season, the Maple Leafs have turned a corner. They’re playing with more urgency, Berube’s been happy with their effort level, and their current winning lineup doesn’t appear to be something the head coach is considering changing at this time. This leaves Kampf in a very tough spot. He’s on the outside looking in for now, which could very well turn into becoming a free agent this summer, as the Maple Leafs could be heading in a different direction this upcoming offseason.