Kampf will be required to miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days after going from inured reserve to long-term injured reserve.
Kampf will be required to miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days after going from inured reserve to long-term injured reserve.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were approximately $87,000 shy of having the salary cap space to call up Nikita Grebenkin on Wednesday morning. In order to do it, they moved forward David Kampf from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve, as first reported by PuckPedia.com.
The Leafs previously moved Kampf to injured reserve when they called up Fraser Minten ahead of practice on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, the Leafs called Grebenkin, who will make his NHL debut tonight when he suits up against the the Vegas Golden Knights.
By moving Kampf and his $2.4 million salary cap hit to LTIR, the Leafs were able to accommodate Grebenkin's $875,000 salary cap hit. The injury to Kampf is only known to be of the lower-body variety, but it must be serious enough that they know he will be unable to play for 10 games and 24 days as a result of it. He will not be eligible to be activated until Dec. 14 when the club visits the Detroit Red Wings.
The Leafs are without forwards Auston Matthews (upper body, injured reserve), Max Pacioretty (lower-body, long-term injured reserve), Max Domi (lower-body, injured reserve), Calle Jarnkrok (sports hernia, long-term injured reserve, and Ryan Reaves (suspended).
Kampf's absence will be most evident on the penalty kill and it limits the club's options at center, which is already depleted. Pontus Holmberg will play center against the Golden Knights. Kampf has no goals and three assists is -2 this season.