The Avalanche, Blackhawks, and Golden Knights are among the teams that are believed to be interested in Czech free agent forward David Kampf, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). He notes his situation could be one to watch over the next 24 hours which suggests Kampf could be close to making a decision on where to sign.
The 22 year old center/right winger is coming off a career year with Pirati Chomutov of the Czech Extraliga. This season, he posted 15 goals and 16 assists in 52 regular season games while adding three goals and seven assists in 13 postseason contests so far.
Kampf will be limited to signing a two year entry level contract wherever he decides to sign. As he is still participating in the Czech playoffs plus the fact that he would have to clear entry waivers if he wanted to play in the NHL this season, it’s a certainty that the deal won’t begin until 2017-18.
Here are some other notes courtesy of Friedman via the weekly Saturday Headlines segment (video link):
- While the IIHF is asking for a final decision from the league with regards to Olympic participation by the end of April at the latest, Friedman expects a decision to be made much sooner than that, noting that it’s “very possible” that the announcement will come at some point this week. If it doesn’t, Friedman expects that a call will be made one way or the other by April 10th. With the playoffs fast approaching, the league would be wise to get this storyline over and done with before the puck drops on postseason play to avoid any potential distractions.
- Although there has been some suggestion that the Islanders might ask the Panthers for an opportunity to speak to Dale Tallon, Florida’s President of Hockey Operations, Friedman noted that New York hasn’t yet sought permission to do so. He also doesn’t believe that the Panthers would allow Tallon to speak with the Isles as they plan to bring him back next season. Florida’s front office situation could shuffle once again this offseason if interim head coach and GM Tom Rowe brings in a new bench boss as expected which could result in Tallon having a lesser role in hockey operations as he reportedly did at the start of this year.