3 Maple Leafs who could be bought out as the NHL’s buyout window opens

The NHL’s buyout window has officially opened, and the Toronto Maple Leafs along with the other 31 teams are now free to exercise this option if they choose to do so.

Of course, the Leafs don’t have to go down this path, given that it doesn’t mean a complete removal of the cap hit of the departing player. But it could give them some immediate wiggle room to bring in different players or open up space for future signings down the line.

Earlier this month, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Leafs were contemplating using buyouts on forwards in the bottom half of their lineup. While he later stated that he doesn’t think that GM Brad Treliving will utilize one, that doesn’t mean it is for sure not going to happen.

On that note, here are three players the Leafs may choose to buy out their contracts and open up some cap space with the help of our friends at PuckPedia.

David Kampf

Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos made an appearance on Leafs Morning Take on Friday, where he reported that a Kampf buyout is a possibility.

This makes sense for a multitude of reasons for a multitude of reasons, with the most obvious being that his role on the team was severely diminished this past season. It got to the point where he was mostly a healthy scratch during the 2025 playoffs and only played in Game 5 against the Florida Panthers. Offence has never been his strong suit, and yet it has continued to trend downward since inking the extension during the 2023 offseason. And he isn’t exactly an irreplaceable player, given that he is more of a shutdown bottom-six forward.

The issue with going down this path with Kampf is the fact that his contract includes a signing bonus that would remain on the books for the next two seasons. The savings would be somewhat marginal – barely less than what a player would make on a league-minimum contract – and would remain on the books until 2029. Despite this hurdle, there is a good chance that the Leafs will look past that and initiate the buyout anyway.

Calle Jarnkrok

Calle Jarnkrok also seems like a probable candidate, as he missed most of last season with injuries and was never quite able to get back up to speed down the stretch. It was certainly commendable that he was able to play, given how much time he missed, but his return did not exactly move the needle for the Leafs offensively.

Similar to Kampf, the biggest challenge in buying out Jarnkrok is the fact that his contract includes a signing bonus of $1.325 million that he is owed on July 1st. He is only on the books for one more season anyway, and that means the base salary that he would be owed for the 2025-26 season would clock in at $775K after he is given the last signing bonus. This makes it more likely that he could instead be traded to a team in a cap dump move after Canada Day where it would be a bit more feasible to take on the remainder of his contract.

Of course, Treliving could determine that a few extra draft picks for next year may not be as beneficial as the roughly $516K in cap space that would be freed up with Jarnkrok being bought out. While this one wouldn’t be the most damaging one to the team long-term, they would be wise instead to wait a few weeks before attempting to move off his contract.

Ryan Reaves

Of the three players listed, a Reaves buyout would free up the most amount of cap space at $900K because his contract does not include any signing bonuses. This makes the proposition of one easier to manage since his role and effectiveness were greatly reduced last season, while he is nearing the end of his NHL career.

He was brought in to bring some noise to the Leafs locker room, which he was certainly able to provide during his first season with the team. The issue lay in the fact that he did not bring much to the fold on the ice outside of physicality and toughness, with his lines frequently getting outplayed and outchanced when Reaves was on the ice. This was especially apparent last year when it took him until the midway mark of the season to get in his first and only fight of the regular season with Mathieu Olivier. From February on, Reaves was barely around the team and even got placed on waivers before the deadline where he went unclaimed.

That is a strong indication of the reality that there won’t be much of a market for him if the Leafs try to dump his contract elsewhere and they likely wouldn’t want to keep a player who will barely play on a Craig Berube-coached team.  Put it all together, and it makes it all the more apparent that a buyout is likely the best path forward if the Leafs were to move on from the veteran enforcer.