MONTREAL — The contract extension given to Rangers depth defenseman Steven Kampfer was less about the player he is and more about how much coach Alain Vigneault believes the most important attribute of a modern NHL defenseman is his skating ability.
It was announced Friday that the 28-year-old inked a two-year, two-way deal worth $650,000 in the NHL and $300,000 in the AHL, with $350,000 guaranteed annually.
The fact Kampfer is a good skater is not only the reason they brought him back for a second go-around on Broadway in a trade that sent Dylan McIlrath to the Panthers early this season, but also the reason he very well may have leapfrogged Kevin Klein as the seventh defenseman.
Both Kampfer and Klein remained out of the lineup as the Rangers lost Game 3 of their first-round series against the Canadiens, 4-3 in overtime, on Friday night at the Bell Centre. But if Vigneault should chose to switch the lineup — with the best-of-seven series tied one game apiece and Nick Holden coming off another very shaky performance on Friday — it’s quite possible that Kampfer, not Klein, would come in.
“Before I signed here the first time, I knew what kind of player he likes,” Kampfer said of Vigneault, referring to his time in the Rangers’ 2014-15 training camp, when he lost out on the job as a depth defenseman to Mike Kostka. Kampfer then was traded to the Panthers in a 2-for-1 deal that made room on the organizational roster for young stud Anthony Duclair (who later was traded to the Coyotes for Keith Yandle).
“[Vigneault] likes guys that can skate, guys that can play the body, and I think that that’s my game,” Kampfer said. “It was just touching up on some things that we’ve talked about — defensive zone and reads and everything like that. I enjoy playing for him, so it was definitely one of the major reasons I wanted to re-sign back in this organization.”
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Once obtained in the McIlrath trade on Nov. 8, Kampfer played most of the season with AHL Hartford before being called up on Feb. 28. He was expecting to reevaluate his contract situation after the season ended, but his agent and general manager Jeff Gorton began talking recently and were able to get a deal done.
“I guess it was kind of awkward,” Kampfer said. “I didn’t think I was going to come back, then when I found out I was getting traded back here, I guess everything works in full circles.I was pretty excited to come back and be back in the mix. It was a locker room I enjoyed when I was in camp.To come back and get in the locker room again and see some familiar faces was definitely nice. ”