When Steven Kampfer told the Boston Bruins of his decision to opt out of the NHL’s restart, it was met with nothing but understanding.
The Bruins defenseman made the announcement Saturday evening moments after Boston released its training camp roster, citing concern about his wife and young child, both of whom have a congenital heart condition.
Though Kampfer was in Providence at the time of the season’s pause, he was a likely candidate to get added to the expanded roster given his experience and ability to plug in and play on short notice.
Kampfer’s teammate, winger Jake DeBrusk, shared in an interview with TSN’s Mark Masters what he and the team’s reaction was to Kampfer telling them.
“He texted our group and I FaceTimed him right away and just told him he has all our support,” DeBrusk said. “There’s bigger things in life than hockey and this pandemic has made it so everyone is seeing that. We wish him the best. Our whole team supports that.”
With Kampfer opting out, both Urho Vaakanainen and Jakub Zboril were called up to the NHL training camp roster. Kampfer, meanwhile is among six that already have decided to opt out, with Karl Alzner (Canadiens), Roman Polak (Stars), Travis Hamonic (Flames), Mike Green (Oilers) and Sven Baertschi (Canucks) the others. Players have until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to opt out.
