After trading Kurtis MacDermid for Zack MacEwen, the New Jersey Devils have created just enough cap space to make another small move to upgrade the roster if they want to.
At the time of this writing, NHL veteran and former Tampa Bay Lightning center Luke Glendening is the favorite to make the Devils as the No. 4 center, supplanting free agent signing Juho Lammikko in the lineup.
However, that could quickly change now that the Toronto Maple Leafs have placed center David Kampf, who played for Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe for three seasons, on waivers Friday afternoon.
Kampf, 30, had his two best NHL seasons under Keefe in 2021-22 and 2022-23, when he scored 26 and 27 points, respectively. The formerly undrafted forward has two seasons remaining on his contract at a $2.4 million cap hit, so there will be some financial commitment involved from the Devils if they make a successful waiver claim.
Assuming the Devils move Johnathan Kovacevic to long-term injured reserve, place Stefan Noesen on injured reserve, and keep Dennis Cholowski around as the team's seventh defenseman, they will have a grand total of $96,746 in cap space, according to PuckPedia.
If and when Kovacevic does return, the Devils will need to find a way to clear $3.72 million in cap space, and all signs would point to Ondrej Palat ($6 million cap hit) and Dougie Hamilton ($9 million cap hit) as the two likeliest candidates to leave New Jersey. Adding Kampf to the equation won't change that, either.
The Devils did little to address their center depth woes this offseason and have been shopping in the bargain bin for competition, which is how they ended up with Glendening and former Devil Kevin Rooney. This would add a name to the list with a little more juice.
NHL coaches historically tend to have a preference for familiarity, and Keefe could get one of his old reliable penalty killers and defensive forwards in New Jersey for free if Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils are shrewd enough to make it work.