It appears there will be a resolution between the Toronto Maple Leafs and David Kampf soon
Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – The Next Ninety One: Leo Carlsson episode on Toronto Maple Leafs David Kampf’s contract situation, and if they mutually terminate his contract, what about the $1.25 million signing bonus that has already been paid out?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Friedman: “By the way, Toronto, we should get some clarity on this David Kampf thing pretty soon.
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Kyle Bukauskas: “Okay, yeah, because you said on Saturday, now the signing bonuses are a sticking point when we look at the idea or possibility of terminating the contract. So how does it all work?
Friedman: “So he had a signing bonus of, I think it’s a million and a quarter, and that was paid out earlier this summer. And what’s in some contracts is that there’s claw-back language, and it allows the team to demand the return of a signing bonus if the player terminates the deal.
And if you’re wondering why it’s there: it’s kind of obvious. It protects against the player quitting once his signing bonus is paid, and gives the team a route to seek it back, right back into the contract.
And basically, if Kampf were to end up, the Maple Leafs would get two years of cap flexibility, right? Because they basically have his entire contract voided and the cap hit. And the limit, as with AAV, is $2.4 (minors). For minors you can deduct slightly more than one million. So you get a few years of savings.
And the league could discuss, and I suspect the league has probably addressed this and said, ‘You get two years of CAP freedom, basically by paying a player about $1.3 million.’ So you have to ask for that money back. And also, if you have reclaimed language, then the league will say, if you put the language in, you have to use it.
Now I have no doubt that the Players Association would argue the other side, their job is to protect the player here. But I’ve heard that the return of the signing bonus has come up in the middle of this issue. So I think the Maple Leafs have said, “Hey, there’s clawback language here and we’re going to enforce it,” or the league has said, “Hey, there’s language here that we want you to enforce.” So that’s another one of the reasons why I think this has taken longer than people thought or expected.
Bukauskas: “Is that claw-back language, is that pretty standard in every player contract across the league, or is that more of a case-by-case basis, organizationally speaking, whatever their philosophy is on that?
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Friedman: “My impression is that this is a case-by-case basis. I asked if it was standard, and I was told no. But there are teams, I don’t know if it applies to every team, but I do know there are teams where it is standard. When they give you bonuses, they put ‘claw-back’ language in there.”
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