Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

David Kampf has drawn praise from Leafs head coach Craig Berube on his recent play after struggling to adapt to new systems at the start of the season.

After being included in a bevy of off-season trade rumours, Kampf struggled to begin the season, even finding himself sliding down the depth chart on the Leafs’ penalty kill. His lack of usage sparked more trade rumours as the Leafs needed to clear cap and roster space prior to the Timothy Liljegren deal.

Recently, however, Kampf has found himself back in his usual role killing penalties and played a significant role in Tuesday’s victory over the Boston Bruins as he and the Leafs killed off all six Bruins power plays. Following the game, Berube commended Kampf on his recent play and all but confirmed Kampf isn’t being traded anytime soon.

 
“He has been really good lately – like, for a while now. He was strong on the faceoff dot, which was good. It was more him getting to understand our penalty kill, the trigger points, and things like that. He has really taken on that role. That is his role, and he relishes it. He is doing a great job for us.”
 

While moving on from Kampf’s $2.4M cap hit for this season and the next two would help the Leafs alleviate cap constraints and allow them some additional flexibility to pay out Max Pacioretty’s bonus overages from his 1-year deal, which will carry over into next season, the value he adds to the bottom six right now is hard to ignore.

Kampf’s improved play recently has not only helped the team, but will allow the Leafs to ease Fraser Minten back into games, beginning this weekend with the Marlies, following his ankle sprain. Not having to rush him up to the NHL will be hugely beneficial.

Since joining the Leafs ahead of the 2021-2022 season, Kampf has become one of the league’s best defensive centers, winning almost 52% of his draws in four seasons with the Leafs. In 255 games in the blue and white, Kampf has 26 goals and 74 points while averaging 14:33 in ice time per game.

It seems pretty clear that Berube likes what Kampf brings to the table, and I’d imagine that if he and Brad Treliving communicate a lot on the structure of their roster, Berube would have indicated that he sees tremendous value in having a player like Kampf at the bottom of his lineup.

Kampf is in the second year of a four-year deal he signed last off-season.