5-year NHL veteran has contract terminated by Kraken
With most teams having played 4 or 5 games, we're beginning to see some tweaks to rosters, including the Seattle Kraken. The Kraken have announced that defenseman Michal Kempny has cleared waivers and will have his contract terminated.
The 5-year veteran, who has spent 1 and a half seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and 3 and a half seasons with the Washington Capitals, has found it to be tough sledding on his return from an Achilles tendon injury that he suffered ahead of the 2020-21 season.
He enjoyed the 2 best seasons of his career in 2018-19 and 2019-20, where he scored 25 points in 71 games during the 18-19 season and 18 points in 58 games during the 19-20 campaign. His 2021-22 season was cut to 15 games returning from the Achilles injury.
He was left un-signed by the Capitals heading into the summer of 2022 and was then signed by the Seattle Kraken on a one-year deal worth 750,000$. However with a log-jam of defensemen ahead of him, including Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Justin Schultz, Carson Soucy, and William Borgen, he was unable to make the cut and was therefore placed on waivers for a buy out.
The 32-year-old is now an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team interested. Having nearly 250 NHL games under his belt, it's fairly likely that the Czech blueliner will have some offers. Whether or not he finds a situation that is favorable to him in the NHL or heads back to Europe remains to be seen.
