Very quietly, the fourth line of the Philadelphia Flyers has not been good for much of anything this season, but, fortunately for them, reinforcements are now expected to become available.
On Thursday afternoon, Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Kampf, who was previously suspended without pay for not playing for the AHL Toronto Marlies, was placed on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract with the team.
Advertisement
The two sides ultimately reached an amicable agreement, and Kampf, 30, is expected to become a free agent after clearing waivers at 2 p.m. EST on Friday.
Kampf’s $2.4 million cap hit for two more seasons, on top of not being on the Maple Leafs’ NHL roster, likely put teams off from making a trade offer for his services, but, assuming he signs a minimum contract somewhere for one season, that issue is gone at the snap of a finger.
As for the Flyers, they have not gotten much from centers Jacob Gaucher and Rodrigo Abols this season, and Abols, in his most recent game for the team against the Edmonton Oilers, lost all five of his faceoffs and played just 6:21.
Flyers Player Development Taking Sour Turn, Sluggish Performances Piling Up
Advertisement
It has become clear that Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet has little faith in this particular unit, which makes it an equally unfit environment to throw a young player, like Nikita Grebenkin, into.
The good news is that, according to Daily Faceoff NHL insider Anthony Di Marco “it sounds like” the Flyers have interest in a terminated Kampf at a “low-dollar value.”
“Wonder about PHI here. They could use an upgrade at 4C and it sounds like they have interest in Kampf at a low dollar value,” Di Marco posted on his X account in response to Kampf’s placement on waivers Thursday.
As for the kind of player the 6-foot-2 center is, he has historically been a reliable fourth-line pivot who has shown capable of scoring an appropriate amount of points relative to his role.
Advertisement
For instance, in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, Kampf scored 11 and seven goals and 26 and 27 points, respectively.
In addition to just the raw stats, Kampf is, according to last season’s NHL EDGE data, a slightly above-average skater, ranking in the 57th percentile for max skating speed, and that comes while spending 5% more time in the defensive zone than league average.
Oh, and the majority of Kampf’s shots on goal came from the low slot. The dirty areas are key for Tocchet, and that will do it.
David Kampf was among the NHL’s very best defensive forwards four seasons ago. (Evolving-Hockey)
At his very best, in the aforementioned 2021-22 season, Kampf’s defensive metrics ranked towards the top of the NHL at his position.
Advertisement
The Czech forward was, and still is, a stout penalty-killer, reliable at even strength in matchup situations, and even got some bounces offensively, scoring and generating more than what was expected.
While the last two seasons, of course, have not gone according to plan for Kampf and the Maple Leafs, the veteran center still represents an obvious and sizeable upgrade down the middle for the Flyers.
Free agent addition Christian Dvorak was widely expected to fill that role, but, to this point, is playing more positionally-versatile minutes in the top-nine forward group than just about anybody thought.
Of course, Jett Luchanko’s objective regression from last season did not help matters, so the Flyers were left with Abols, Gaucher, and a seemingly never-ending puzzle.
Kampf is sure to have offers from plenty of Stanley Cup contenders, but the Flyers would be foolish not to at least buy a ticket to the raffle.
