Now that the Stanley Cup is in tow, the Washington Capitals are now shifting their focus to re-signing some of the great players that helped the franchise claim its first-ever Stanley Cup. The team has already re-signed top blue-liner John Carlson to a massive eight-year deal worth $64 million. Now, at the top of their to-do list is retaining the other half of their top defensive pair in Michal Kempny. Talking with Czech NHL announcer Roman Jedlicka on Tuesday, Kempny expressed re-signing with the Capitals is a “priority.”
#caps D Michal Kempny: "I don't want to change things that work. So my prioroty for next season is to re-sign w/ Caps. We will see what happens."
— Roman Jedlicka (@jedli) June 26, 2018
The Capitals acquired Kempny in a February trade from the Chicago Blackhawks for a third-round pick. Kempny helped shore a struggling defense playing alongside Carlson. In 22 regular seaosn games, Kempny had three points while getting a feel of the back end of Washington’s defense. In the playoffs, Kempny totaled five points in 24 games with his average time on ice increasing to 17:42.
The Capitals have offered Kempny a multi-year deal, according to Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post.
As for Michal Kempny, Caps have made a multi-year offer. Discussions there will continue tomorrow.
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 24, 2018
The Capitals have roughly $13.2 million of salary cap space with seven main roster spots available.
