Maple Leafs' David Kampf Considering Drastic Measures to Continue NHL Career

Entering the season, the Maple Leafs wanted to maximize their cap space, which led to Kampf and his $2.4M cap hit being placed on waivers.

With no one claiming him, Kampf was demoted to the Marlies following what was a rather pedestrian training camp performance.

In the American Hockey League, a team can only dress a maximum of five 'veterans' per game. The Marlies have eight on their roster currently, leading to plenty of lineup shuffling.

Unfortunately for Kampf, the 'veteran' rule has limited him to playing in only 4 of the Marlies' seven games heading into this past weekend.

Ahead of the Marlies' weekend series in Chicago, Kampf informed the team he was taking a leave of absence, as reported by Friedman on the 'Saturday Headlines' segment of Hockey Night in Canada.

On Monday's '32 Thoughts', Friedman dove deeper into Kampf's situation where he shared that the Czech native may choose an unconventional end to his tenure in Toronto.

Friedman touched on the one hinderance that may prevent Kampf from terminating his contract, which is the money he would be walking away from. There have been other players, like Brandon Saad, who walked away from millions, but he also made far more money than Kampf earlier in his career.

Friedman also suggested that his actions this weekend may have put pressure on the Leafs to move another body in order to create the necessary cap space to accommodate Kampf's salary.

Having a defensively responsible center in Kampf available is always helpful. Given the number of forwards the Leafs have and that head coach Craig Berube doesn't seem to be a fan of the 30-year-old, it doesn't make sense to me to try to find a trade partner at this point, knowing he's not going to play and continue to be a distraction.