I have a true conundrum with Kempny - do I change him from a defensive defenseman to a two-way defenseman in NHL '20?
the play he just made notwithstanding, he's been terrific. not real physical but smart, positionally sound, and a great skater.he is stacking points right now, is he also good defensively like he was 2 years ago and last season? pretty impressive how you got a top-4 dman for nothing
he is stacking points right now, is he also good defensively like he was 2 years ago and last season? pretty impressive how you got a top-4 dman for nothing
He plainly knows it too.He is good at what he does. There are big chunks of defenseman play that he apparently isn't so good at. For Reirden the things he does well fits the Caps needs where the things he doesn't do well were more important in Chicago and lead to lots of nachos. This is a great example of good pro scouting and proper use of your player's best skills. Kempny owes the Caps a lot for seeing it
I have a true conundrum with Kempny - do I change him from a defensive defenseman to a two-way defenseman in NHL '20?
He is good at what he does. There are big chunks of defenseman play that he apparently isn't so good at. For Reirden the things he does well fits the Caps needs where the things he doesn't do well were more important in Chicago and lead to lots of nachos. This is a great example of good pro scouting and proper use of your player's best skills. Kempny owes the Caps a lot for seeing it
Pretty sure he's repaid their faith fully with that steal of an contract and his play on the top-pair of a first-time Stanley Cup -winner.
I am not sure how much of a steal his contract is. I imagine that I would define his role on the team different than you do. I certainly wouldn't call Carlson and Kempny the team's top pair. Carlson is the team's 1d but he is not used at even strength like a top pair usually is. Reirden uses 1-4 and 2-3. On the cup team Orlov Niskanen was the top pari
He's the 2nd best ES defender in this team, it's obviously a steal.
John Carlson is the best D in the league, miles away from anyone else. Any pairing that has him is a top-pair in this league, no matter what team you put him in. Certainly in Washington. Do you honestly think Orlov-Gudas is the top-pair?
Reirden never uses him in primary defensive situations. He is not used on shutdown duty and is not used late in periods or games in defensive situations. Last season and the playoff run the season before he was a solid 4th in even strength ice time. This season with Niskanen gone, he is 3rd at even strength.
He is not used like a typical top 4 defenseman. I guess we will agree to disagree but there is no way that during the cup run that Niskanen and Orlov were not the top defense pair on the team. Kempny is a 4/5 that plays with a 1. That doesn't make him a 2. He is paid like a 4/5 would be.
Kempny is tied for 120th best paid defenseman. He signed that as a pending UFA and a lot of the worse paid defenseman than him are RFAs. Unless you think there are 120 better defenseman than Kempny in the NHL, I don't see how his contract isn't a bargain.
Kempny currently ranks 118 in average toi. Last season Kempny was ranked 121 among defensemen in average toi. Its simple to me. He plays even strength shifts with Carlson. He is replaced in significant defensive situations in that role. His role is primarily even strength with no pp time and very limited fill ice on the pk. Again, Reirden uses him in a non traditional way. Normally a player that wouldn't be top 4 on the penalty kill or primary on the power play wouldn't skate even strength shifts with your 1d. I have had my questions about Orlov, Lord knows, but 9 carries a much more difficult even strength oppo assignment than Kempny does.
This season Orlov ranks 43 in average TOI among defense and last season was 59th.
You can't use toi/game to tell how a defenseman ranks in the league. There's just so many problems with that.
Someone has to play the minutes on bad teams. The no.3 guy on Nashville is surely miles better than the no.1 guy on Detroit.
In addition, outside of the elite guys getting 25 minutes a game, most top 4 defenseman are getting 18-22 minutes. There's not a lot of spread there. When you're in that range, it's down to the tendencies of the coach or the specific situtation the team is in, not so much the quality of the player.
Thats some bs I thinkI realize these things. But this a marker used to pay guys. Are you saying that Kempny would be a quality pp and primary penalty killer on most team? I think the reason he was eating nachos in Chicago was because he was not good at those things. Coach Q isn't a fool. Reirdon and MacLellan saw a player that could skate a solid 2nd tier shift at even strength and fit their system. That they could find away around his lack of ability as a defender. He fits the Caps and the way Reirden coaches defensemen. The Caps have Seigenthaler leading their pk mins and don't need Kempny to do that. Last season they had Orpik for that. Most teams need their top 4 partner for their top offensive defenseman to carry priority defensive assignments. In this case they don't. Carlson is better at these things. You don't notice that last season when the Caps needed a late game defensive stop that Orpik skated with Carlson and this season Jensen does?
Thats some bs I think
Why spend Carlsons ability now when they can use Jensen?
Come playoffs Carlson will be the one defending last minute shifts.
Who cares? You just argue for the sake of arguing and it’s completely pointless.
Kempny looks fantastic. That’s all that needs to be said really.