Blackhawks Sign Michal Kempny
UPDATE: On Tuesday the Blackhawks made it official, announcing a one-year deal with Czech defenseman Michal Kempny.
Kempny, who turns 26 in early September, played for the Czech Republic in this year’s World Championships and the KHL during the 2015-16 season. He had five goals and 16 assists in 59 games with Omsk Avangard last season in the KHL. He was named the KHL Defenseman of the Week three times during the 2015-16 season.
Listed at 6-0 and 194 pounds and is a left-handed shot, Kempny finished the World Championships with two goals and 16 shots on net in eight games.
Michal Kempny’s deal with #Blackhawks would be entry level so a 1-year deal with a cap hit somewhere between $575,000 – $925,000.
— General Fanager (@generalfanager) May 23, 2016
Great news. Let’s hope he meets or exceeds the expectations. Powers seems to think he’s a top 4 guy and could be a significant add to the team. I tend to agree with what Ernie said in the last thread – he’s a #5 until he proves different. Either way, a solid left shooting D-man who’s a pro and ready to step into our mix is a good thing.
An okay signing, but not what we need. Which we can’t afford because of the cap. And that is a ruggedized true top 4 blueliner.
This is the current problem in this new era of Chicago hockey. The core is at the stage and high mileage level where it needs to be surrounded with more true quality complementary players, not less. Yet all we have in the system and can afford is nomadic marginal talent bodies. Maybe Motte is the exception to that.
Left D = Keith, Kempny-Gustafsson; Right D = Hjalmarsson, Seabrook, TVR.
Rundblad should never ever see left D again, right side guy. Svedberg, right now, is the 4-th Left D.
If Pokka shows he’s ready, he likely takes Rundblad or Svedberg’s spot.
Great news hopefully does well. Rozival probably signs now to play a role similar to tikinov.
Rufus, can we give the guy a chance to play before you pronounce him DOA? And WTF is ruggedized? Sounds like a testosterone pill. Let’s give him a chance to try and make the team before you start dumping on him and comparing him to Daley.
Geez, I ain’t gonna complain about this signing. A guy who can play a 4 or 5 D spot and will be < $1mm for next year? I'll take it. Keith, Seabrook, TVR and Hjalmarsson are going to get big minutes regardless and this guy can potentially shore up a deficiency. Welcome to the Blackhawks Michal Kempny!
An improvement over what was on the ice defensively in game 7 against blues…..Gus and Runblad ? Agree with RTF that this team needs a bit more ” nasty” in overall team make up. We really need to surround Toews with compatible linemates and get a 2 line threat going.
A trade will be made before the season starts…TT ? Seabrook?
Kempny,TVR, Gustafson, Svedberg, Rundblad. All are 5/6 defenseman. If that in some cases. Throw in what Stan said regarding Rozsival and you could have 6 guys rotating the bottom pair. Loading up to package in trade? Maybe.
I wouldn’t read too much into Scott Powers talent analysis. He’s a hockey writer/reporter. A pretty good one at that. Who’s his audience? Us, Hawks fans. He keeps our attention to an article by hyping a topic. You get to read 5 free articles at the athletic before you hit a paywall. I’m not saying he’s totally wrong. But I will challenge whether or not he’s ever seen the guy play live.
“Most significant move of the offseason”
Good chance it’s not even top 3.
Plans to read more articles start at 4.17 a month.
Thanks Tab for not doing that to us. We all appreciate it.
Any trade involving Seabrook to get a top wing creates a bigger hole at D than it fills at forward.
If Rozsival signs with the Hawks it’s not to be a translator. He’s still capable. Hed be league minimum. So if the Hawks have to trade a 6-8 dman and don’t want Forsling, Pokka,Dahlstrom sitting in the press box frequently he can be a stop gap.
I agree with big Indian. It’s a one year deal. Low cap hit and a two way deal so if he can’t adjust to the small ice he costs nothing against the cap. There is zero risk to this signing.
I was one that thought Brian Campbell would resign in Florida. Now I’m not so sure. I know some of you don’t like the idea of signing Campbell. Not arguing that. But the emergence of Michael matheson at the World’s may make Campbell expendable.
Serious question Rufus. What do you think about Radko Gudas?
The odds were stacked against the Hawks repeating before the season even started. They played 11 out of a possible 12 series over the past three playoffs and that thing called the Cup hangover may not be explicitly definable but the toll playing high intensity hockey into June takes coupled with the loss of key players means the star players must have superstar efforts to advance in the next season playoffs and the Hawks star players did not have enough left in the tank to provide superstar efforts.
We got caught up in the stellar season that Kane had but it is Toews that sets the tone and leads they way and quite frankly Toews simply didn’t do that in the series against the Blues. I have confidence that with a long off season for physical and mental R&R and the bitter taste of the first round loss, the Captain will return, as will Hossa and the big-3 d-men. That more than anything else will determine the Hawks playoffs fortunes next season.
Sign Kempny, stick him in there and let’s go.
Maybe Stan is signing thus Russian Dman because he is capable and he is not expensive —and this will help Stan find a strong line mate or 2 for Toews with the money he saves.
Rufus — go ahead and say whatever you want . I may not always agree with you but it is your right.
Personally I enjoy reading what you add.
Again, we enter new era after 8 years. Thanks to the cap and a largely empty farm system we simply aren’t in a position to surround the core with a strong enough complement of players. Kempny is an ok signing, but he’s not a top 4. And neither is TVR has we painfully learned from March onward this past season. We face the dilemma of having no good options to flank Toews and LW or RW next season, assuming the Anisimov line stays intact for one more season before Panarin cashes in with another team next summer. Hossa is now really third line material. The heart and soul in Shaw is gone barring an unforeseen miracle. And so yeah, I can’t get excited about what surrounds Toews, Kane, Anisimov, Hossa and Krugee at forward next season. Or Keith, Seabrook and Hjalmarsson on defense. It just isn’t good enough, and the core needs increasingly more quality surrounding it and not less.
Playoffs can’t simply be assumed next season. This is a new era. And it will be fascinating to see what Bowman begins to do to lay the groundwork for success going forward. Talk about being handcuffed.
Agree with RTF’s statement about needing better support talent around the core because the core is getting longer in the tooth. That’s why I still think you trade a couple of the core to infuse youth and cap flexibility. You have to give up value in order to get value. We have to replenish the core rather than letting them all decline at or around the same time.
If Kempny is so good, why would he only get an entry level deal? Or, since he has no NHL experience, is he forced to do an ELC? Ernie, you are well versed on that technical stuff. I am not criticizing the signing because we are handcuffed, but I am not looking at this guy as some sort of savior. We have all been sold a bill of goods on the great prospects we have had over the last 5-7 years and most did not pan out. So, I am watching with great anxiety over what Bowman will do to extend our our championship run.
Go Hawks!!!!
The Hawks mgmt will not accept mediocrity so expect the next 2 years to be a bit rough but we will get back to being an elite team . Question is when and at what price . Will be fun to watch .
I look for TT to be traded this off season .
Kempny sounds like an outstanding acquisition! But will Q trust/play him?
Bobby Orr was 19 when he joined the Bruins…that mean Q wouldn’t have
played him…
Booman, it has to do with Kempny’s age. European players at his age can only sign a 1 year deal. Just like Panarin could only sign a 2 year deal. The max cap hit is .925, but it can be incentive laden like Panarin’s was.
Glad that they sign him but at the same time i remember when they sign DrewLeblanc …he was supposed to be a top notch talent for the Hawks …i also remember when they sign other free agent like Kempny and it didnt turn out the way i tought …so now i am just looking and hoping it will be a good move ..
Its a 1 year contract , so the kid is free at the end of next season ..
I really think their is a big trade to come for the Hawks ..
Who will be leaving the Hawks ? Hope its not Teuvo who will become a very good player in the next 2-3 years ..he is just a kid at 21 ..and he needs more time..maybe like Patrick Sharp who was very slow to become the player we had with the Hawks …patience is needed with Teuvo ….Philadelphia know by now that Sharp was a real lost for them …Teuvo will be the same kind of player i think …
“Thanks to the cap and a largely empty farm system” – wholeheartedly disagree re: farm system being empty. Lots of new blood in Rockford this year.
Thanks Ernie, I knew you would have or find the answer. I have my fingers crossed on him.
Tab, there is a lot of new blood, but who do you see as the top 5 prospects and do you see any superstars in the making? There really are no high probability stars in our system because of the drafting position that goes along with winning championships. I am not complaining… True, there is a lot of new blood, but no budding superstars.
Hawks2010, totally agree on Sharpie. That trade has to go down as one of the better ones in Blackhawk’s history. I also agree that a big trade is going to take place this off season. The organization is committed to winning and realizes they have to do what I’ve been thinking, replenish the aging core. I believe they know there has been a slow deterioration in the quality of this team due to aging and the annual cap influenced loss of skill. I believe we will see a 6-8 player blockbuster deal made that attempts to address our needs while getting younger and provides some cap flexibility.
Go Hawks!!!!
Tab- imo- the farm system still has some players…. BUT- most of them are NOT in Rockford… and or a couple years away!!!
Motte- is probably the only guy that might make impact next year!
Not in Rock -Schmaltz, Olofsson, Hayden, Snuggerud, Radke… couple years away
Hogs- Motte, Forsling, Hino ( maybe 1 Swede D guy pans out)
One possibility could be seabrook in a package for oilers no. 1 pick, making bickell and his cap hit part of it. Be cap room to maybe sign a bryan campbell and resign shaw. Use oilersers pick to draft maybe tkachuk to play with toews and possibly tuevo leave kane line alone and a 3rdline of shaw hossa panik or motte if nhl ready and krueger desjardins and hartman or another rockford prospect on 4th line. Lots of tinker room for coach q too. Would have some wiggle room to get d help at trade deadline and have forsling available for playoffs too if he returns to europe but still don t know if hole on defense would be filled sufficent or not
What do you guys want out of Rockford, two Kanes and a Keith? “There is a lot of new blood but no budding superstars.” How do you know?!! You don’t. We all think we know that Motte is a stud or Pokka is a bust but who the hell knows.
The funny thing is everyone bitches about the farm being bare but in reality, the Hawks are in a position to not be reliant on it to win. They only need 3-4 of these guys to give bottom line/pairing production and that’s it. Kempny should help with that and if he doesn’t, having Keith, Seabs, and Hjalmarsson getting a little extra rest certainly will.
Anybody who has watched the playoffs knows the Hawks were good enough (again) to win it this year. Teams that lose playoffs always look wanting but the facts are that the Hawks have plenty of stars (and no matter what else, it’s a star driven league). Other strong teams like Washington, Anaheim, Dallas, LA, etc all bit the dust in the playoffs and will have to replace players as well. To me they don’t look any stronger going forward.
Filling holes in your lineup has been a necessity ever since the salary cap. The Hawks are good at it. The key to success going forward is that the Hawks need to find one new star every year (like Panarin) When they find that next star defensemen they will be set again for a while.
The rest of these moves are just so much filler.
And RTF, if you can’t get excited about the Hawks, go haunt some other team’s blog.
Austin- you make some good points…
But- disagree – On Hawks just need some Prospects “to fill” in on bottom…
They will need another Saad/Shaw type of Prospect/contribution-im0
especially if they lose Shaw. Panarin “replaced” Sharp… but no one has replaced Saad… AA- has been good (but if TT centered that line… I still think 72/88 produce at really high level.
Hawks – won Cups with HUGE play of Saad/Shaw (coupled with Core)…
Blues- imo- BIG reason for this year- Fabbri- has been huge surprise- to be this good/this young (like Saad/Shaw)…
While the Hawks might currently be the Pens 2.0 as Wall suggests, didn’t take them long to be back near the top. I have said many times, up til 15-16 the Cap has been a friend to the Hawks, and it will be a friend again. I truly believe that without the Cap the Hawks would not have won 3 Cups in 6 years.
There are about a dozen teams who would spend huge (including the Hawks with Rocky) to sniff the Cup. With the Cap, the entire organization has to come together and the Hawks do that very very well.
Austin,
“There is a lot of new blood but no budding superstars.” How do you know?!! Agree you don’t know with the players we currently have in our system. We can only hope for surprises. That only supports my point. Unfortunately, hoping is not good enough with the window we have with Toews, Kane, & Keith. We need to be proactive. What we do not have are any highly touted, highly sought after, high draft picks in our system ready to step into NHL roles. That I do know.
Agree with Wall, we need to more than bottom six help. That is unless we see an aging core that is totally rejuvenated from the extended off season. I hope you are right Austin.
Off topic, but did anyone hear anything on Seabrook’s injuries? I read someplace that a St. Louis reporter saw teammates helping Seabs onto the plane after the game 7 loss to the Blues. Any truth to that? If true, anyone hear what the injuries were?
Ian,
That is one of the teams I am thinking about as a trading partner when discussing a big move. You mention Seabs and their number one pick. Those are a couple of the elements of the trade I am believing is going to happen. Despite Seabs contract and the hole his departure will leave, I believe that he is going to be part of a major deal. The deal will give the Oilers (or Sabres, or Leafs) some much need championship leadership and fill some of our needs. A drastic move like this keeps us competing for the cup now and further into the future than if we continue just doing patchwork fills every year while trying to be cap compliant.
We can’t trade Seabs for the #1 overall pick. If we did, then we’ll be in EDM’s situation with great forwards but only two veterans on the blue line.
Stop it with the Seabrook crap. The Hawks blue line is already weakened. Let’s decimate it further. And then replace him with a 37 yr old that can at times be a liability in his own end.
I’m with you that poaching a forward from Edmonton would be great. But a 6 million dollar player isn’t coming here. Maybe you can coerce them into taking Bickell for Yakupov and you can throw in any of the 5-8 dmen the Hawks already have. Good luck though because Edmonton has enough of those already.
Trading Crow vs. Seabs- still makes more sense to me…
Crow easier to replace.
The winner of the Cup this year… will skate a goalie- who makes less than the average “Star” goalie – or top ten goalie!!!
Crow- near top of game… perhaps gets back more in trade???
Booman- Seabs rumored to have Back issue???
back issue- could go away like – Hoss…
or be the beginning of long term issue– like Bollland???
Not Good!
Wall, forever set on trading a 6 million dollar goalie. You’re not all wrong. Just who would take him. Who has a need. Who can fit the cap. Arizona has an overpriced goalie. Edmonton has Talbot, who they’re luke warm on. Toronto? Hmm. Vancouver, they don’t know what they are. Calgary? Perhaps.
Any team interested in Crawford has other options in free agency (Brian Elliott) who’s probably cheaper and can be had for just money. So it’d be difficult.
Bergevin in montreal is very upset with the signing by the Hawks ..he had Kempny almost sign but he decide to go with the Hawks …Carolina was also in the mix to get him sign ……hope he will be abble to do the job for the Hawks
Can’t say I feel bad for Bergeron after he pretty much stiffed Stan on the Sharp trade at the alter at the draft.
This is very solid signing by Stan.
Add to that, an Assistant GM from an Eastern Conference team telling Scott Powers that Ville Pokka is NHL-ready is very encouraging.
1st off I love the Czech jersey kick ass! 2nd this guy needs to matter, so lets hope he does!