Maple Leafs Have a Problem with Liljegren & Kampf Contracts

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After all of the training camp battles, positional uncertainty and salary cap questions, we now officially know the 23 men – 13 forwards, eight defencemen and two goalies – who will head into opening night of the 2024-25 NHL season as Toronto Maple Leafs.

But while general manager (GM) Brad Treliving deserves credit for maximizing the talent and depth on the club’s roster while remaining cap compliant (by $1, no less!), questions remain regarding the long-term state of the group. First and foremost, it is unideal to begin the season more than $5 million deep into long-term injured reserve. Not only will the front office have to figure out a way to absorb Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpaa and possibly Fraser Minten and Dakota Mermis back into the lineup once they’re healthy, but the Maple Leafs are now unable to begin accruing cap space to start the campaign.

Treliving and the front office certainly deserve credit for getting Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz under contract without parting ways with anyone. And yet the roster, while boasting an impressive level of both talent and depth, still seems imperfect. Specifically, Timothy Liljegren and David Kampf seem to be taking up roster spots and eating up cap space that could be earmarked for younger and/or more deserving Maple Leafs. Although it’s true that both players’ arrivals in Toronto predated the current GM, Treliving still has to answer for the contract extensions given out to both men in recent years.

Timothy Liljegren

Liljegren has suited up for the Maple Leafs in each of the past five seasons and has been with the organization for seven years, so it’s reasonable to be surprised that the Swedish blueliner is still just 25 years of age. Unfortunately, the type of progress and development one might expect from a player entering their mid-20s just hasn’t been there. Case in point, he wasn’t particularly visible across three preseason games, being held off the scoresheet while finishing with a minus-1 rating.

Now, Liljegren looks to be no higher than seventh on the defensive depth chart, slotting in behind Morgan Rielly, Chris Tanev, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Simon Benoit and even Conor Timmins. Liljegren and Philippe Myers stand as the extra defencemen on the roster, meaning he could even wind up being a healthy scratch at times this season – and that’s even before Hakanpaa recovers from offseason knee surgery.

This wouldn’t be such an issue were it not for Liljegren’s new contract extension, signed back in June for two years and $6 million. With a $3 million cap hit, he will earn more this season than McCabe, Hakanpaa, Benoit, and Timmins despite likely starting behind all four on the depth chart. Ideally, the Maple Leafs would be able to celebrate the development of a homegrown success on the back end, but now Liljegren finds himself the subject of trade speculation and questions related to fit less than four months after inking his new deal.

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David Kampf

In contrast to the uncertainty surrounding Liljegren, Kampf has a clearly defined role lined up for this season, slotting back into his familiar fourth-line centre position. His presence, however, does create something of a blockade, one that isn’t going away any time soon.

David Kampf Toronto Maple Leafs
David Kampf, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Last summer, nearly a year to the day prior to Liljegren’s extension, Kampf agreed to terms on a four-year, $9.6 million deal at an annual cap hit of $2.4 million. Although the reigning world champion will still only be 32 when his contract expires in 2027, it represents an awful lot of money and term for a fourth liner. Much of his role can be filled by Lorentz, who will make the league-minimum $775,000 this season, or Bobby McMann, who will make $1.35 million. Fellow fourth-liner Ryan Reaves could be seen as similarly expendable at a cap hit of $1.35 million in each of the next two seasons, but his status as an enforcer/protector can’t be easily duplicated.

Kampf has been a reliable, effective soldier for the Maple Leafs in stabilizing the bottom six, but his presence offers challenges to the team in the short and long term. In a short-term sense, he will be part of the logjam created once Jarnkrok and Connor Dewar return from injured reserve and require lineup spots and cap space. Thinking long-term, the next three years of his contract present an obstacle for Toronto prospects like Minten, Easton Cowan, Alex Steeves, Nikita Grebenkin and many others hoping to crack the big club.

To be clear, healthy competition for roster spots is never a bad thing, as we’ve seen over the past few weeks of training camp. But carrying players who occupy spots down the depth chart and boast contracts with significant cap hits and term can put a team in a major bind in today’s NHL. For now, Liljegren and Kampf remain with the Maple Leafs. However, keeping them through the duration of their contracts might be difficult and may not be in the best interests of the organization.

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