Michal Kempny has suffered another devastating injury that will keep him out long term.
Tuesday evening, the Washington Capitals announced that the defenseman had surgery to repair his Achilles tendon. Kempny will be out six to eight months.
According to the team, Kempny suffered the injury while training in the Czech Republic.
Washington Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny underwent a successful surgery to repair an Achilles tendon. Kempny sustained his injury while training in Czech Republic. Based on the nature of this injury, Kempny is expected to miss 6-8 months.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) October 6, 2020
The injury will free the Capitals of Kempny’s $2.5 million cap hit for most, if not all of next season as the team can bury him on long-term injured reserve.
This is the second big injury Kempny has been forced to overcome since helping the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018. Kempny also tore his hamstring in March 2019 during a regular-season game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I just felt pop in my leg,” Kempny said of the moment when the injury occurred. “I felt really big pain.”
The torn hamstring forced Kempny to miss the entirety of the 2019 playoffs and several games at the beginning of the 2020 regular season.
This story is developing.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB