You were really hoping for a better start to the Brad Triliving era. Something that says I’m serious about pushing Leaf to the next level. What we’ve dealt with so far is an exercise in running backwards for lefts.
Sheldon Keefe has been confirmed to return and there should be a stretch in the works. The Leafs are (rightfully) working on new contracts for Auston Matthews and William Nylander. It’s definitely not a good idea to work on the return of Alex Kerfoot, and now we’re dealing with the return of David Kampf, at $2.5 million. for four years. As much as you might like David Kampf’s hard-working, hard-working look, none of that should go over well with you.
This brings us to what the Leafs will get in David Kampf’s return and some of the best data on why Kampf’s $2.5 million AAV return is an issue that comes from Book IQ.
Of Kampf’s 997 minutes for 5v5 icetime, 30% has come against top-tier competition. Compare this to how the Leafs have used Ryan O’Reilly, O’Reilly has spent 38.6% of his time against top opponents.
The majority of Kampf’s ice time has come against mid-level forwards, and that generally means second line players, but with some third line players in the mix as well. Kampf’s Corsi against that group was 48.1% and his goals against that group was a shocking 37.9%. Basically, he was consistently losing his most frequent matches, and while he did well when faced with top-tier competition, Kampf still averaged 49.3% GF and 47.6 CF%, numbers that don’t necessarily scream “give me a raise and keep me for four.” other.”
Kampf is not a heavy hitter or shot blocker, nor is he so dominant in faceoff that he should be seen as a standoff specialist. What he is, oddly enough, is a surprisingly decent goalscorer if you look at it in the context of him being a fourth midfield instead of a third midfield. And if you’re looking at the Leafs as a potential Stanley Cup contender, you should look at David Kampf as the fourth quarterback.
Kampf is also often credited with being a penalty killer as only Justin Hall has spent more time on penalties than Kampf did for the Leafs last season. And the Leafs do well on the penalty kick. However, paying for penalty killers is kind of foolish because it’s generally about executing the simplest defensive strategies you can and as I mentioned, the Leafs felt comfortable enough to rely mainly on Justin Hall to implement it. If Kampf hadn’t been second to the Leafs in minutes killed, it could have been any other bottom six position the Leafs used instead, and it’s hard to imagine the killing unit would suffer from the change.
Basically, it did well on a few things, but whether or not those things are worth cutting into a limited space is debatable.
The two main things Kampf has in these negotiations is the fact that he is able to move into this third line role for periods if needed. As much as many people feel with Pontus Holmberg as the Leafs’ fourth line center, they may be less thrilled about Holmberg’s long tenure as the third line man. That is, in the near future, during Kampf’s four-year contract term, we will very likely feel more comfortable with Holmberg in all situations than with Kampf.
Another thing that benefits Kampf is the fact that there are a few proven bottom six options available in free agency that seem like they can do the job better than he can. Whether it’s worth overpaying and going long-term for a fourth-line position remains unwarranted, but if things are about this moment and this season, Kampf could be the best 4C option today.
That’s when things get weird when it comes to the Matthews-Nylander negotiations. It appears the Leafs are trying to take a firm hand with these two superstars about building a championship team around them with less than their contract help. That acceptance is hard to come by when GM immediately makes it clear that rather than looking to upgrade the roster, the plan is to bring back David Kampf. To say the message is mixed is probably an understatement.
Unfortunately for Brad Triliving, when he doesn’t have any more moves to his name, he’ll be judged based on his first move and the first seems like a useless one. The good news is that it was a small mistake and hopefully he will recover from it. Signing Pontus Holmberg was certainly a good start, but for a fanbase that has been told to be patient for far too long and know they started the era with some solid pieces in place, Treliving needed to hit one out of the park.