He’s been on the trade block all summer long, but veteran center David Kampf remains in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization. GM Brad Treliving has been unable to find a taker. The 30-year-old center was assigned to the Marlies of the American Hockey League to start the season.

However, Kampf is clearly not happy with his status. He has decided to take leave from the Marlies for “a couple of days” to contemplate his next move, according to insider Elliotte Friedman. Kampf was not in Chicago to play with the Marlies on Saturday night.

David Kampf has taken a couple of days to kind of think about his future. Obviously, he’s not playing with the Maple Leafs right now. He’s in a bit of a roster and salary cap crunch situation, and he got a little bit frustrated. I think everybody understands, he wants to play in the NHL and he’s an NHL player.

Kampf still has two years remaining (including this one) at a $2.4 million cap hit. There doesn’t appear to be a team willing to take on that contract.

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He played 59 games for the Leafs last year, his fourth with the team. Kampf recorded 13 points and a minus-1 rating in a fourth-line role. He was scratched for nearly all of the playoffs, getting into just one game.

This season, Kampf has played four games with the Marlies, with one assist and a minus-1 rating. Those are his first contests in the AHL since the 2017-18 season, his rookie year in North American pro hockey.

Leafs still trying to trade Kampf

According to a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger, Treliving is still trying to move Kampf to get off that money.

Would Kampf consider terminating his contract so that he can peddle his services to another team without the baggage of the $4 million or so he’s currently owed?

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“ I’m not sure that’s going to happen,” said Friedman. “But there’s no question that he’s taken some time this weekend to think about his future in the NHL, what he wants to do. We’ll see if the Maple Leafs can find a move this weekend for him, or to clear space, and or what next week brings him.

“He’s just taking some time because he’s frustrated right now.”

The 6’2″ center has played 538 career games in the NHL over eight seasons, with the Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks. He has registered 48 goals and 143 points with a minus-16 rating. He’s averaged 14:03 of ice time.

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