David Kampf quickly finds new team after Maple Leafs saga

David Kämpf’s time on the free-agent market didn’t last long. The Vancouver Canucks announced that they’ve signed the recently released center to a one-year, $1.1M contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign.

The news puts to bed some speculation. A report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman Friday indicated that the Canucks, Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins were interested in Kämpf’s services. Additionally, TSN’s Darren Dreger shared that there were three finalists for Kämpf, with Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic confirming that Vancouver was one of the finalists.

Although a $1M-plus commitment may seem excessive at face value for a player who just had his contract bought out by the Maple Leafs, it’s important to remember that, based on the payment schedule throughout the year, Kämpf’s agreement is prorated through the end of the regular season. It is far closer to a league minimum agreement in reality.

What does David Kämpf offer the Canucks?

There’s no questioning that the Canucks needed some help down the middle. Even at the beginning of the year, the Canucks were known to be seeking a second-line center, and that was before Filip Chytil went down with another concussion. Coupled with Chytil’s injury, Vancouver has been without Teddy Blueger for the last month.

The Canucks tried to improve the situation by trading for Lukas Reichel in late October, but the gamble has yet to produce the anticipated results. Even with Reichel, Vancouver’s best available centers behind Elias Pettersson are Max Sasson and Aatu Räty. With all respect to those two, it wasn’t a conducive core to competitive results. 

Before Chytil went down with a concussion on Oct. 19, the Canucks were 4-2-0 through their first six contests. They’ve struggled since with a 4-7-2 record and have dropped to 13th place in the Western Conference, yet are only two points shy of the final wild-card spot. Kämpf shouldn’t be expected to fix most of their troubles to start the year, though he should provide some stability down the middle of Vancouver’s forward core.