Arizona Coyotes re-sign defenseman Steven Kampfer to one-year contract

The Arizona Coyotes have re-signed veteran right-handed defenseman Steven Kampfer to a one-year, two-way deal, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.

Kampfer, 34, split the 2022–23 season between the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins and Tucson Roadrunners, collecting six goals and 29 points in 59 games. He added an assist in three playoff contests with Tucson.

According to PuckPedia, Kampfer’s new deal with the Coyotes carries a $775,000 NHL salary. He’ll be paid $225,000 in the AHL, with a guaranteed total take-home of $275,000.

The Anaheim Ducks originally drafted Kampfer in the fourth round (No. 93 overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft, but he never signed with them and became a free agent in 2010. The Boston Bruins subsequently signed the five-foot-eleven defender to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Kampfer appeared in 38 games with the Bruins during the 2010–11 season (and none in the playoffs), just narrowly missing out on the 41-game threshold required to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup that year. He appeared in 10 games with the Bruins the following season before being traded to the Minnesota Wild.

After additional spells with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers, Kampfer wound up being traded back to the Bruins in 2018. He remained with the club until 2021, at which point he signed with the KHL club Ak Bars Kazan with the underlying goal of representing the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Kampfer collected one goal and four points in four games at the 2022 Olympics as Team USA ran the table in the group stage before being knocked out by Team Slovakia in the quarterfinals. The Americans ultimately finished in fifth place, one spot ahead of Team Canada.

Through 231 games over parts of nine NHL seasons with the Bruins, Wild, Panthers, and Rangers, Kampfer has collected 15 goals and 39 points. He also scored a goal in three playoff games with the Bruins during their run to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

A veteran of 333 AHL games, Kampfer will likely spend most of the 2023–24 season with the Roadrunners as they try to make their second consecutive Calder Cup Playoff appearance.