GM Brad Treliving needs to trade David Kampf very soon in order to free up roster and cap space, and he may have a suitor in Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell.
The Columbus Blue Jackets need help at center, and with how their season has gone so far; it’s been a very mixed bag, to say the least. Sitting at 5-5-1, there’s no real projection as to where they’ll end up. Could they be a dark horse playoff contender? Are they going to tank and go for broke in the Draft Lottery?
Well, they could be trying to make a little bit of a push, and GM Don Waddell is willing to use his cap space to welcome some unsavory contracts; something Brad Treliving could take advantage of. According to Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff, Columbus is willing to extend some generosity to take on a bad contract:
“(Waddell) has let teams know that he is interested in taking on contracts that may be viewed as undesirable in exchange for assets.” Seravalli said, noting that Waddell is looking for lower-year deals instead:
“Waddell’s response has been, ‘I’m not interested in guys for that long, because somewhere in that 3 to 5 year window, my team’s gonna be better and pushing for the playoffs and I don’t want to devote cap space to players who are already deemed as undesirable.'”
David Kampf Is The Answer
David Kampf, signed for another two years at $2.4M is the perfect candidate to flip to Columbus, taking advantage of their generosity and getting two things done at once: Clearing out Kampf’s spot and cap hit, and giving Toronto more draft assets as they try to recoup from years of trades.
Currently, in a fourth-line role, Kampf would provide Columbus with a solid bottom-six contributor and provide help down their desperately thin middle. Toronto has Calle Jarnkrok and Connor Dewar returning, so they both need the cap space and roster availability. After signing Steven Lorentz this season, fans assumed Kampf would be out the door as Lorentz does Kampf’s job at half the cost. It hasn’t turned out that way, but if Toronto needs him to fill Kampf’s role after a trade while Jarnkrok and Dewar slide in on the wings: he’s the best candidate.
Plus Toronto needs to have a surplus of draft picks, not only to find their next diamond in the rough, but they can also use as trade bait to acquire a true 3C, perhaps someone like a Yanni Gourde from Seattle or try and pry Colton Sissons away from Nashville as they’re struggling this season. If they can grab decent picks for Kampf and use them with Nick Robertson to acquire that 3C; it would pay huge dividends.
Brad Treliving needs to pick up the phone and call Don Waddell soon because he has a bloated contract he needs to get rid of; and Waddell’s transformation into the NHL’s Santa Claus, offering generosity to all. Just make sure you meet the right criteria, or you may end up on Waddell’s naughty list and end up out of luck.
