Follow @james_tanner123 According to the Washington Post's Isabelle Khursuhdyan, the Washington Capitals will sign Defenseman Michal Kempny to a 'multi year' contract extension.
The deal is for four years @ $2.5 million per.
The sample size is short, as Kempny only joined the Capitals at the trade deadline, and if people who are happy they just won the Cup are to believed, this is a fantastic signing.
I would say, however, that the Capitals just commited four years to an , at best, sixth defenseman.
Regular season, 22 games:
47.75 CF% -1% Relative CF 3 points
John Carlon's CF% was 47% with Kempny, and 54% without him.
Playoffs, 24 games:
49CF% +4% CF Relative 5 points
John Carlson's CF% was 49% with Kempny and 48% without him.
He also led the Capitals in on ice shots/60 in both the regular season and playoffs. His shots against were middle of the pack.
all stats from Naturalstattrick.com
Overall, the Capitals should probably not get comfortable with a Carlson Kempny pairing just because they won the Cup. Kempny, who does not drive possession or make his teammates better, should not be a top four defenseman.
He is a perfectly serviceable puck moving bottom pairing guy. His cap hit fine. It's not especially good, and the term is too long for a bottom of the roster player. He's a left shooter, so he's easily replaceable, and he is 27 so he won't be getting any better.
Some people raved about his play, but this is far more likely to be because of circumstances and not actually because he is awesome.
Christian Djoos was a far superior partner for Carlson. Not just statistically, but logical. Djoos is good at actual defense. Neither Kempny or Carlson are.
Kempny is a perfectly serviceable bottom pairing defenseman - generates shots and moves the puck. The Capitals had team success playing him with their #1, but it is problematic that Carlson seems to do better without him, and that at no time did they combine to be a better than 50% possession pairing.
John Carlson was partnered with Christian Djoos for the most part last season and they had a 54% possession rating while on the ice together.
Here is a chart from Ryan Stimson that illustrates who is better:
WSH re-signed Michal Kempnའtoday to a 4 year deal worth 10 mil. After I saw that the deal was official, I ran a comparison on Michal Kempnའand Christian Djoos. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/I9qkzH15OC
— Josh Tessler (@TesslerJosh) June 29, 2018
Thanks Josh and Ryan!
I don't mind this signing, but its a bad idea to keep Djoos down in the lineup while playing an obviously non-top four player. The deal is OK, too long.
Thanks !