Kempny, 31, missed all of last season while rehabbing from surgery for an Achilles' heel injury, and he is in the process of gradually ramping his game up in camp. This fall's exhibition games represent his first NHL action of any kind in more than 13 months, and he has shown improvement each time he has taken the ice during the preseason.
van Riemsdyk turned 30 over the summer. He is another undrafted free agent who has carved out a good NHL career, cracking the roster of the 2015 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks as a rookie and remaining in the league since. van Riemsdyk has been the most impressive of the group this fall, and the Caps protected him from Seattle in the July expansion draft. One of four holdover righties on the Washington blueline, he will almost certainly be in the team's top six this season.
"I feel good about it," says Caps defenseman Nick Jensen, another of the team's quartet of right-handers. "All of our D are NHL defensemen, so it makes it easy when you get thrown in with different partner. Everyone seems to play pretty well of each other, so that never seems to be a problem when our lines get a little mixed up, because we all kind of feed off it. It's been good so far."
Philadelphia hosted the Caps on Saturday night, downing them 3-1 after Washington took an early lead in the game on an Aliaksei Protas power-play goal in the first. The Caps and Flyers were all even heading into the third period of that game, one in which the Flyers dressed their varsity lineup while the Caps suited up a number of players who have since been reassigned to AHL Hershey.
The Flyers play their regular season opener on Oct. 15 vs. Vancouver in the opener of a four-game homestand.