When Seattle ran defenseman Michal Kempny through unconditional waivers to terminate his contract, it seemed reasonable to think that the veteran had his next destination figured out already. That is indeed the case as Sparta Praha of the Czech Extraliga announced that they’ve signed Kempny to a two-year deal plus an option.
The 32-year-old split last season between Washington and their AHL affiliate in Hershey. He got into 15 games with the Capitals where he picked up a goal and an assist but logged less than 16 minutes a night, his lowest ATOI since his rookie year back in 2016-27. Kempny was a bit more productive in 24 minor league contests, recording seven assists.
A veteran of 247 career NHL regular season games, that was enough to help Kempny land a one-way deal from the Kraken this past summer, albeit at the league minimum. However, he suffered a concussion in his season preseason game and cleared waivers at the end of training camp which saw him then sent to Coachella Valley.
Instead of sticking around there in the hopes of getting recalled at some point, Kempny has instead decided to head home. The term of this contract makes it unlikely that he’ll return to the NHL down the road but if it is the end of the line for him at the top level, he still had a pretty successful career, playing in five NHL seasons which isn’t too bad for an undrafted player.