Defender Michal Kempný from Washington will strengthen the hockey team at the World Cup in Finland. The team management is also interested in other reinforcements from the NHL – strikers David Pastrňák and Tomáš Nosk from Boston and David Kämpf from Toronto. The Bruins and Maple Leafs ended the season tonight.
The team in Tampere, on the other hand, will leave the defender David Musil, who was not entered in the list.
Washington was eliminated in the first round of the NHL playoffs with Florida 2: 4 in games, the last match took place on Saturday night. The 31-year-old Kempný, who won the Capitals Stanley Cup in 2018, did not play in the playoffs. He should join the national team on Monday and it will be his third start at the World Cup. He will be entered on the roster as the eighth Czech defender.
“Michal Kempný is a defender with international experience and I believe that he will be a very good reinforcement for us. David Musil understood his role during his training in Sweden and we thank him very much for his professional approach. He should return to the Czech Republic tomorrow morning, where he will start preparing for the next season, “said the general manager of the national team Petr Nedvěd.
Nedvěd plans to call Pastrňák, Nosk and Kämpf later today. “I will find out how healthy they are and if they are interested in strengthening the Czech national team at the championship,” said Nedvěd. The NHL playoffs also ended for another Toronto striker, Ondřej Kaše.
“But porridge gives birth, it doesn’t come,” Nedvěd smiled. “I have a preliminary agreement with the other three players, but that does not mean that it must be. They will still have exit interviews, exit inspections. That can play a big role,” he said.
Already during the overseas playoffs, information appeared that Pastrňák was also entering with ailments. “It’s not 100%,” the national team manager confirmed. “And the question for a million dollars is how the club will react to it. The paste has a taste and wants to represent,” he added.
On the night of Monday, the seventh matches of the first round of the NHL playoffs are still waiting for Filip Chytil from the New York Rangers and Radek Faksu from Dallas. Nedvěd did not rule out their possible occupation in Tampere either.
“We still have to decide. Most of all, we have to wait, because I don’t believe the boys from Boston and Toronto will have exit interviews and club tours today,” the manager said.
Petr Holík and Petr Kodýtek, the attackers of the current staff, who were not registered at the start of the tournament, will be waiting for the result of the negotiations between Nedvěd, the players and their clubs.
Kempný last played a competitive match on March 28, when he started in a home defeat of Washington with Carolina 1: 6. He has played just 15 games this season in the NHL and has scored two points for goals and assists.
He started the season after a preparatory camp on the farm in Hershey in the AHL and joined the Capitals for the first time until December 29. It was after 16 months that he had last played for Washington in mid-August 2020 in the first round of the playoffs against the New York Islanders.
Before the next year, he underwent Achilles tendon surgery in October and only managed two AHL matches in the end. Hershey has played 24 games this season and scored seven points for seven assists.
“The coaches will decide, but my idea is that Michal will play as soon as possible after arrival. We don’t want to rush it, however, he simply has a match shortage. So the sooner the better,” Nedvěd said.
Kempný last played in the national team at the World Championships in Paris in 2017. A year earlier, he made his World Championship debut and then started at the World Cup in Toronto. He has 54 matches in the national team and has collected 22 points for five goals and 17 passes. In the national team, he will meet a former teammate from the Capitals, Jakub Vrána. Together with the current Detroit striker, they won the Stanley Cup four years ago.
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