Capitals' Michal Kempney undergoes Achilles surgery

The Washington Capitals offseason has started off poorly, with the team announcing today that Michal Kempny has suffered an Achilles tendon injury. The defenseman has undergone surgery and is expected to miss six to eight months. Kempny suffered the injury during his offseason training in the Czech Republic.

This is brutal news for Kempny, who spent all of last season trying to get back to full-strength after surgery to repair a torn hamstring in April 2019. The fleet-footed defenseman was only able to record 18 points in 58 games and just didn’t make the same impact he had the year prior. Now with another long rehab in front of him, he’ll have to hope that he can get back during the 2020-21 season at all.

Perhaps on cue however, the Capitals have re-signed Brenden Dillon to a new four-year contract with an average annual value of $3.9M. Dillon was scheduled for unrestricted free agency on Friday and the Capitals had been reportedly trying to move some money out in order to fit his salary in. With Kempny likely headed for long-term injured reserve, that flexibility is now available without trading out an asset.