Report: Leafs suspend David Kampf for leaving AHL team

The Toronto Maple Leafs have suspended center David Kampf for leaving their minor league affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, according to a report from PuckPedia.

Kampf had recently stepped away from the Marlies, largely due to a dissatisfaction with playing in the AHL. He reportedly believes that he should be in the NHL, and has been looking for a way to end up back in the NHL, whether that be with the Leafs or another team.

According to PuckPedia’s report, the situation is expected to be resolved soon. They mentioned that the possible options to resolve the situation is either with him reporting back to the team, being traded, or terminating his contract with the opportunity to be an unrestricted free agent and sign with another team, similarly to what Brandon Saad did leaving the St. Louis Blues and joining the Vegas Golden Knights last season.

Kampf was in the AHL after failing to make the Maple Leafs team in training camp, even with an early injury to center Scott Laughton seemingly freeing up a spot for him on the depth chart. Considering Kampf fell out of favour with Craig Berube in the playoffs, it’s likely that the Leafs head coach just doesn’t see a fit for the Chomutov, Czech Republic product. Kampf was placed on waivers before the start of the season, and cleared, so clearly his contract is a big deterrent for other teams at the moment.

Kampf is currently in the third year of a four-year contract with a $2.5 million cap hit, which only 15 teams could take on in full without having to send money back the Leafs’ way. Kampf had only been taking up $1.25 million on the Leafs’ salary cap this season while in the minors, and will not count against their salary cap at all while he is suspended by the team.

Kampf had just one assist in four games with the Marlies this season. He had five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 59 games last season, as well as no points in the lone playoff game that he played.