The Chicago Blackhawks have signed David Kampf to a two-year contract after failing to issue him a qualifying offer last week. Kampf technically became an unrestricted free agent, but was always expected to re-sign with the Blackhawks after a nice season in the NHL.
The 24-year old forward signed out of the Czech Republic in 2017 and quickly showed that he was in no need of seasoning in the minor leagues. He played 46 games with the Blackhawks in 2017-18 and came back as a regular last season. In 63 appearances he registered 19 points, but was relatively effective in a bottom-six center and penalty killing role. That’s likely where he’ll be used again next season, though it’s unclear exactly how the Blackhawks’ bottom-six will shake out now that Ryan Carpenter and Andrew Shaw have been acquired in recent days.
In fact, Chicago has only eight forwards in the entire organization on one-way contracts for next season, meaning there still could be a fair amount of change and competition in the lineup. Kampf will know he has the security of a two-year deal and will still be under team control when it expires in the summer of 2021.