'There's Something There They Found On The MRI': Loss of Maple Leafs' Forward David Kampf Could Prove Catastrophic to an Already Depleted Penalty Kill
With David Kampf out with an undisclosed injury, the Leafs lose another top penalty killer for at least the remainder of the week.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without defensive center David Kampf for the remainder of the week after further tests on an undisclosed injury revealed that he will have to miss some time.
"There's something there they found on the MRI that's going to require some time to heal," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said ahead of his team's game against the New York Islanders. "It's usually a couple of weeks for a timeline, but it's funny because it happened before the break and all that so he's already sort of on his way.
Following the week, Kampf will be re-evaluated on a day-to-day basis. Based on what happened the last time the Leafs didn't have Kampf in the lineup, the ramifications could be catastrophic.
The Czech center leads all Leafs forwards in ice time on the penalty kill this season with 105:31. The Leafs played in one game without Kampf this season. After calling out his team's performance, Sheldon Keefe benched the forward to send a message to the group on Dec. 30 before a game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Without their top penalty-killing forward, the Leafs gave up two power-play goals in a 3-2 loss.
Toronto is currently ranked tied for 24th in the NHL of 32 teams on the penalty kill with a 77.4 percent efficiency heading into games played through Sunday.
It's not clear what Kampf's injury is, but not having him alongside Mitch Marner for the team's top penalty killing unit could be compounded by the fact that the Leafs lost Calle Jarnkrok to a broken knuckle last week.
In their 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets without Jarnkrok, the Leafs elevated William Nylander for more minutes on the penalty kill. But without Kampf and Jarnkrok, the Leafs may be forced to give Auston Matthews some more penalty kill time. Other options include Matthew Knies and possibly Pontus Holmberg.
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