Washington Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny cleared waivers on Sunday. The team placed Kempny on waivers on Saturday. He will now report to AHL Hershey.

The move saves the Capitals $1.225 million in NHL salary cap space and the team now has $1,793,740 in salary cap space.

Laviolette on the Caps waiving Michal Kempny: “We really feel like it’s important that he plays and that he finds his game and gets his game back … right now, if he’s not in our top six, that means he’s not playing, and I just don’t feel like that does him any good.”

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) October 10, 2021

Kempny missed the entire 2020-21 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles’ tendon on October 8, 2020. Just over 18 months before, he had a surgery to fix a core muscle injury that caused him to miss six-and-a-half months.

Kempny recorded three goals, 18 points, and a team-leading +19 rating in 58 regular-season games during the 2019-20 season after missing the first eight games.

Kempny recorded one assist and a -2 rating in five 2020 Stanley Cup Playoff games, but was a healthy scratch for the final three games of the Capitals’ first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series against the New York Islanders.

In 232 career NHL games with the Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks, Kempny has recorded 14 goals, 61 points, and a +58 rating.

By Jon Sorensen