Maple Leafs' Kampf Linked To Division Rival

The Toronto Maple Leafs have to figure things out with David Kampf, as he is headed in a direction where he will be playing on a different NHL team this season with an opportunity to be in the NHL. With how the Maple Leafs are set up, Kampf was the odd man out and found himself in the AHL.

Chris Johnston said, "Not too many teams are eager to take on his contract...the Leafs are not in the mood to just take back some garbage contract." Toronto has just over $1 million in cap space to use and Kampf's cap hit is $2.4 million AAV for this year and next. That isn't exactly an ideal contract to move considering the Maple Leafs have him in the AHL, even if he can still be a solid fourth line center.

The insider also mentioned, "A team like the Canadiens, they don't have a left shot center on their roster. You can't tell me they wouldn't use a player like him. He has attributes that a team like that would find appealing." This includes his two-way ability and giving the team an option to take faceoffs in the defensive zone, especially on one side of the ice.

The Montreal Canadiens have $6.6 million in cap space and could use an upgrade in their bottom-6. Kampf would have more of an impact than Joe Veleno this season, who has played 10 games, averaged just over 11 minutes of ice time per game, is a -5, plays no special teams, has poor analytics, and has recorded no points.

Montreal could do with giving Joshua Roy and Owen Beck more time to develop as well. But even so, Beck is another right-shot center. It is an interesting place the Canadiens are in with their centermen, as teams generally have too many lefties. But they also aren't just going to help out their division rivals in Toronto if it doesn't help them just as much.