Today the Washington Capitals made a pair of announcements regarding their defense.
Dillon Re-Signs for 4 Years
First the Capitals announced that they have re-signed defender Brenden Dillon to a four year contract with an AAV of $3.9 million.
The signing keeps the Capitals Trade Deadline acquisition around to help stabilize the blue line, and gives the Capitals some of the grit that they were lacking when Brooks Orpik retired after the 2018-19 season.
Kempny to Miss 6-8 Months
Next up the Capitals announced that defender Michal Kempny required surgery to repair an Achilles Tendon injury.
Kempny’s surgery was successful, and will be expected to miss 6 to 8 months to recover and rehabilitate the injury. The injury was sustained while training back home in the Czech Republic, and is the second significant leg injury Kempny has suffered in the last two years.
How Does One Affect the Other?
Great question as one does impact the other, at least for the 2020-21 season. Kempny has an AAV of $2.5 million and Dillon will now carry a $3.9 million AAV on the Cap. With Kempny going to Long Term IR when the Opening Day Roster is submitted, Kempny’s cap hit will come off the books and alleviate some of Dillon’s Cap hit.
Overall it’s good signing to keep Dillon in DC, but it is unfortunate to also hear the news about Kempny being out 6-8 months. With tonight being the NHL Draft, and Friday the start of Free agency, it’ll be interesting to see what the Capitals will do moving forward as they will still need to get themselves under the Salary Cap.
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