We finally got some breaking news about the Toronto Maple Leafs after what felt like silence surrounding the team for weeks.
Reports from both Darren Dreger and Elliotte Friedman this afternoon on Twitter said the Toronto Maple Leafs and pending UFA David Kampf are closing in on a four-year extension that would keep the Czech native in Toronto through the 2026-27 season.
Hearing the Maple Leafs are closing in on a multi year deal on David Kampf. Around $2.5 aav.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 28, 2023
David Kampf re-signs in TOR for 4 years, approx $2.5M AAV
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 28, 2023
Kampf, 28, was coming off of a two-year contract ($1.5M AAV) that he signed with the team during the 2021 off-season and after a strong first season in Toronto, setting career highs across the board, he followed that season up with a new career high in points during the 2022-23 campaign.
As we know, Kampf isn’t the flashiest player on the ice. His job is defence first, and he enjoys the task of shutting down the other team’s best players. However, moving to Toronto, his offence has kind of been unlocked a little, and we’ve seen him post back-to-back seasons with 25 plus points while averaging 15:17 of ice time a night over the last two seasons.
When this news broke, I wondered what he would command on a shorter-term deal or even if he hit the open market. Well, according to James Mirtle, the belief was he could very well command north of $3M if he ended up going to the open market on July 1st.
Belief was he could command up to $3M+ on open market, but he clearly wanted to stay. This number feels okay. https://t.co/hHIkHV9bFw
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) June 28, 2023
I also wondered if Treliving signed him to a two or three-year contract would he be commanding more money annually? This deal is kind of similar to the Calle Jarnkrok one Toronto signed last off-season.
You stretch out the term and lower the AAV which, yes, helps you against the cap, but you also have that player for probably a year or two longer than you want.
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