“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these,
'It might have been'.”
-- John Greenleaf Whittier
Michal Kempny, an under-utilized defenseman with modest numbers playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, was arguably the last, not to mention surprising piece of the puzzle on defense tor the Capitals in 2018 when he was traded by the Blackhawks for a conditional third round draft pick. Kempny helped stabilize the defensive pairs, the Caps went 15-7-0 with Kempny to finish the regular season, and the Caps went on to win the Stanley Cup. Kempny appeared to have a bright future with the Caps.
Kempny had a pair of solid seasons after that, going 6-19-25, plus-24, in 71 games in 2018-2019 and then going 3-15-18, plus-19, in 58 regular season games in 2019-2020, but it was the last of the 71 regular season games in 2018-2019 when the promise of a prominent role blew up in the form of a torn hamstring suffered when he fell awkwardly in a dust-up with Cedric Paquette of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It would be the first of three serious injuries, all to his left leg. He returned from his original injury to have a solid 2019-2020 season, despite a late start to the season (he missed the first eight games of the season), but he sustained a torn Achilles tendon in the same left leg in the 2020 off-season, and then in another freak injury, his left leg was injured when he was clipped by an ice shoveler during a stoppage of play in a game when he was skating for the Hershey Bears. He missed the entire 2020-2021 season for the Caps and managed just two games played with the Bears after a lengthy rehabilitation before suffering the last of his injuries.
His 2021-2022 season started with his being placed on waivers, the club hoping he would clear so he could be assigned to Hershey. He did clear waivers and skated 24 games with the Bears. He did return to the Caps, but played only intermittently and was limited to 15 games overall.
Fearless’ Take… There just aren’t enough games on his resume for this season from which one could mine the positive elements of his performance. The Caps were 2-1-0 in the three games in which he skated more than 20 minutes, they won both games in which he posted points, they won both games in which he recorded four hits. But there just isn’t a lot of meat on the bone here.
Cheerless’ Take… His presence in the lineup was not a plus. The Caps were 6-8-1 in the 15 games in which he played. He had a plus rating in only three games, none of them better than plus-1. His 45.4 percent shot attempts on ice at 5-on-5 was worst among the Caps’ defensemen appearing in at least 15 games.
Odd Kempny Fact… His minus-3 rating was the first time in five NHL seasons that he finished in minus territory.
Odd Kempny Fact II… Two Capitals dressed for more than one game this season and compiled more penalty minutes than games played – Tom Wilson (98 minutes in 78 games) and Michal Kempny (16 minutes in 15 games).
Odd Kempny Fact III… Kempny and turnovers did not mix. His 1.51 giveaways per 60 minutes were the fewest in his career, as were the 0.25 takeaways per 60 for which he was credited this season.
Game to Remember… February 17th at Philadelphia. As much as if might be the case when visiting any opponent, when an opponent visits Philadelphia, one thing they want to do is take the crowd out of the game. In their first visit to Wells Fargo Center in 2021-2022, the Caps did just that. It took a while, but with less than two minutes to go in the first period, the Caps seized the lead. Nic Dowd got the play started by entering the Flyers’ zone with speed down the left side. It was the first thrust in what would become a sequence in which the Caps pinned the Flyers in deep with puck movement and retrieval. The puck made its way back to Dowd in the left wing circle, and he fed it high to Kempny just inside the Flyers’ blue line. Kempny stepped up and fired, his shot sailing through a clot of players in the shooting lane, beating goalie Martin Jones on the blocker side to give the Caps a 1-0 lead. While the Flyers would take a brief 3-2 lead with less than five minutes left in regulation, the Caps would tie the game less than a minute after the Flyers took the lead, added a goal with just over a minute in regulation, and then tacked on an empty net goal with 49 seconds left to win, going away, 5-3.
For Kempny, his goal was his first – and only – goal of the season, making up for a penalty he took less than two minutes into the game that could have put the Caps in an early hole. He would be penalized a second time later in the game, his four penalty minutes tying his season high. He did record six shot attempts, two on goal, and logged 16:49 in ice time with one credited hit in what might have been his most event-filled game of the season.
Game to Forget… March 25th at Buffalo. This was another one of those 11 forwards/seven defensemen games that makes player rotation and combinations a movable adventure, and what that often means for the defense is that one player is left standing when the other six chairs are filled. Michal Kempny was that odd man out in this game, skating only five shifts and logging just 3:17 in ice time. He did not skate a shift over the last 34 minutes (29 minutes of regulation and the five minute overtime) in the Caps' 4-3 Gimmick win, which made it unsurprising that he did not have a crooked mark on his line of the score sheet save for a penalty he took late in the first period. It was his low ice time mark for the season.
Postseason… Kempny did not suit up for any game in the postseason.
Looking Ahead… Kempny is entering the free agent market as a player who will be 32 years old on Opening Night and having played just 15 games over the last two seasons. For a team looking to get younger and with players in the pipeline such as Alex Alexeyev and Lucas Johansen who seem ready to at least challenge for a roster spot, the cards are stacked against Kempny’s return to the Caps, even if he was to accept a pay cut from the $2.5 million he earned per season on his just expired contract.
In the End… It hardly seems fair – in fact, overkill, given the sequential nature of his injuries – that what should have been Michal Kempny’s prime production years and perhaps his role as a top-pair defender were stolen by those injuries. He is now an unrestricted free agent, and his career with the Caps is possibly, if not likely, at an end. His future is uncertain. He has shown that he has, or at least had, the potential to be an effective two-way defender. But whether his injuries have robbed him of speed and/or maneuverability is an open question, one that will determine if he can find a home for the 2022-2023 season.
Grade: C+
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