“The way to resumption is to resume.”
-- Salmon P. Chase
It was all coming together.
Michal Kempny was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks, where he seemed
buried on the depth chart, to the Washington Capitals, where his insertion into
the defenseman mix settled what was a troubled matter for much of the 2017-2018
season. With the pieces in place after
Kempny’s arrival, the Capitals marched through the playoffs to win the Stanley
Cup. Kempny’s numbers did not jump off
the page, but they were solid.
Those numbers got better in the 2018-2019 season for
Kempny. He started the season slowly
with just one point in his first nine games and two points over his first 16
contests. But starting with a four-game
points streak in late November, Kempny went 6-17-23, plus-20, over his next 55
games. And then, it blew up. Kempny suffered a hamstring injury in an
overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 20th that would
require surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation.
His season was over, and the depth on defense that had been cultivated
by the Caps’ front office over the preceding 13 months was reduced once more. One could not help but think it was an
important factor in the Caps’ first round playoff loss to Carolina.
Kempny’s presence in the lineup, particularly in his 55-game
run of good numbers, mattered. Over that
span the Caps were 34-16-5, the third best record in the league over that span,
trailing only Tampa Bay (43-8-3) and Calgary (34-13-6). The team’s possession numbers, while not
especially impressive (49.63 percent shot attempts-for at 5-on-5), were respectable,
ranked 14th over that period, compared to their 18th-ranked
numbers overall for the season (49.04 percent).
Odd Kempny Fact…
If you want to know how complicated NHL transaction
management can be, consider Michal Kempny and how he came to be in Washington,
and what transpired after. It started
with a third-round draft pick in the 2018 entry draft. It was the property of the Toronto Maple
Leafs, but…
- The Maple Leafs had to compensate the New Jersey Devils for signing Lou Lamoriello as general manager. The compensation was a third round draft pick in either the 2016, 2017 or 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
- The Devils did not exercise the pick in 2016 or 2017 and traded the 2018 pick to the Capitals, along with a second round pick in the 2018 Entry Draft, for Marcus Johansson.
- The Caps included the 2018 third round pick…sort of…in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks that brought Michal Kempny to Washington. The pick was conditional, the Blackhawks receiving the higher of Washington's own third-round pick or that third-round pick that Toronto originally owned and that was obtained from New Jersey.
- When Toronto was eliminated from the 2018 playoffs in April 2008, the provision granting the Blackhawks the original Toronto pick was activated.
- In June 2018, Chicago traded the pick to the Arizona Coyotes along with a fifth-round pick (that one originally held by the Columbus Blue Jackets…another story) for a third round pick (originally held by Calgary…still another story)
- Arizona flipped the third round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a fourth and a fifth round pick in the 2018 draft.
- San Jose selected center Linus Karlsson with the pick. He has yet to play a game in North America.
So…a third round pick takes a journey from Toronto to New
Jersey to Washington to Chicago to Arizona to San Jose. Michal Kempny, on the other hand, found a
home.
Bonus Odd Kempny Fact…
In 2018-2019, Michal Kempny scored more goals (six),
recorded more assists (19), posted more points (25), put up a better plus-minus
(plus-24) in 71 games than he had over his 103 previous games in the NHL (5-13-18,
plus-15).
Fearless’ Take…
Numbers inform, but results count. That said, in a season and change with the
Capitals, the team is 73-37-7 in regular season and playoff games with Michal
Kempny in the lineup, 9-8-1 when he is absent.
Part of it is his offensive contributions; the Caps are 25-8-2, regular
and postseason, when he posted a point.
However, they are also a respectable 48-29-5 in games in which he did not
record a point. His individual
possession numbers have been good since he arrived (50.09 percent shot attempts-for
on ice at 5-on-5 in the regular season), but not extraordinary; they are third
among Caps defensemen playing in at least 50 games since he came to the club
last season. Whatever his own numbers,
he does seem to have had a reverse-ripple effect on the defense. His arrival allowed other pairs to settle,
becoming more consistent, more predictable, and more consistent.
Cheerless’ Take…
Last season was the first one in a three-year NHL career,
that started at age 26 mind you, in which Michal Kempny skated more than 55
games. Yes, it was a fine season until
he got hurt. But now, we’re left with
unknowns. Can he come back 100 percent
from surgery on his hamstring. Will he
be able to do so at the start of the season?
If the answer to either of the first two questions are “yes,” will last
year prove to be an indicator of his expected level of performance, or was it
an outlier, a spike, a one-off from which he will descend into a more
disappointing profile?
Potential Milestones:
- 200 career NHL games played (174; he needs 26)
- 100 games played as a Capital (93; he needs seven)
- 100 penalty minutes as a Capital (74; he needs 26)
- Top-50 among defensemen in games played as a Capital (93; he needs 27 to tie Jason Doig (120))
- Top-50 among defensemen in points as a Capital (28; he needs two to tie Bryan Watson (30))
The Big Question… Was Michal Kempny’s 2018-2019 level of
production a floor or a ceiling?
After a slow start last season, Michal Kempny found himself
on a pace to hit the 30 point mark from the blue line for the Caps before his
season was cut short by injury. Had he
done so, he would have been only the sixth defenseman to reach 30 points for
the Caps since the 2005-2006 season.
Little in Kempny’s history would indicate such a level of production as a
common occurrence. He totaled only 15
points in 81 games with the Chicago Blackhawks.
In his one season in the KHL, with Omsk Avangard in 2015-2016, he was
5-16-21 in 59 games. He did not hit the
30-point mark in five seasons with Brno Kometa in the Czech Republic, although
scoring standards in Europe might be somewhat different than in North America.
Perhaps it is a case of circumstance, a player finding a
team, a scheme, and a partner (primarily John Carlson) that allows otherwise
hidden parts of his game to emerge and flourish. The encouraging part about pondering this
question is that last year was an extension of Kempny’s performance at the end of the 2017-2018 season,
especially late and in the playoffs in 2018.
Sometimes, a change of scenery does wonders for a player stuck in the
organizational mud with another franchise.
In the end…
Back when there were “record stores,” there were clearance
bins with old vinyl discs that weren’t in demand by artists few heard of. But every once in a while, a gem could be
found in the clearance bin. Maybe not a
classic, but something that just wasn’t played often enough to reach the level
of appreciation it deserved. Such might be
the case with Michal Kempny who, in two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks,
was dead last in average ice time (15:06 per game) among the 16 defensemen to
dress for the team over those two years.
That he would be let go for a conditional third round draft pick was sufficient
indication that he was not really ever in the club’s plans. Their loss.
Kempny has been, so far, the sort of defenseman whose numbers
might be replaceable, to a point, but who’s intangible ability to settle the
rest of the defensive squad with his presence in the lineup has been one of the
most important, and perhaps underrated elements of the Caps’ success over the
last 100 regular season games. His
absence in the playoffs last spring just seem to underline that thought. If he can pick up where he left off, the Caps
might be able to resume deep playoff runs.
Projection: 70 games, 7-20-27, plus-18
Photo: Will Newton/Getty Images North America