#4 It will be close, but Michal Kempny will edge out Martin Fehervary for the final defensive spot
It stinks that it is going to come down to this but in the end, sports is a business. For weeks we thought there was going to be two openings on the left side of the defense. It turns out the Caps were so high on Trevor van Riemsdyk beyond just protecting him in the expansion draft.
Although he is a righty, it looks like TvR will be on the left side of the defense which means the competition is going to come down to Michal Kempny, Alex Alexeyev, and Martin Fehervary. With the motivation of coming back from a torn Achilles tendon that cost him all of last season, Kempny will lock in that final spot.
If Kempny makes it onto the opening night lineup it would mark an incredible comeback story as the defenseman suffered three injuries in the span of two years. First it was his hamstring injury in March 2019 that ended his season. Then in September 2020, he hurt his Achilles. In May, Kempny suffered a knee injury while on a rehab conditioning stint with the Hershey Bears.
"To be able to compete with the guys, it just means a lot to me. I've been through a lot the last couple years, so I'm glad to be here right now."
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 24, 2021
Michal Kempny on working his way back to full strength and participating in this year's training camp.#ALLCAPS | @MedStarHealth pic.twitter.com/deV365ygGG
Kempny described his experience to Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required):
"“It was bad luck. But I believe that everything bad is behind me and I’m just trying to focus on enjoying every day here.”"