Kempny > Hutton by a loooooooong mile.

Kempny might be able to fetch a late 1st rounder. His contracted mix with his type of play are needed by all

Obviously, it's still a good team. Calling up prospects is good for the health of the development system. Adding draft picks is good, long term, even if they're late picks. You can easily get a 2nd and a good prospect for Kempny at his low cap hit, and a 3rd for Copley, which, if Hutton is really down to that cap hit, might make sense?

Kempny tied for 39th in even strength points by a defenseman last season with E. Karlsson, Pietrangelo, Gardiner, Faulk, McAvoy, Ceci, and E. Johnson: http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?report=skaterpoints&reportType=season&seasonFrom=20182019&seasonTo=20182019&gameType=2&position=D&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=evPoints,points Montreal fans want Gardiner, but are talking about trading a good forward for Ceci. They'd easily give a second and a decent forward prospect for Kempny if he's available.

Copley just tied for 36th in wins with Hart, Quick, and Ward. They were each more or less starters for half the year. If Colorado and Columbus are each okay with Ward or Neuvirth, and the Caps really need 200k of cap space, maybe see if Phi retains a million on Elliott to trade one year of an inconsistent 34 year old backup goalie, plus some kind of a pick or prospect, for three years of a really decent backup goalie, still in his 20s? Obviously Hart is younger and will keep improving and get way, way, way better than Copley within a couple more years, but if he has a slump or an injury in the next couple years, the Flyers could use someone who's reliably almost as good, and signed cheap for a while?

While Kempny probably is a bunch better than Hutton, there is certainly a trade price and a UFA price at which it makes sense to gamble on someone who's played more games and bigger minutes, more of each special team, and had one year when his offense was almost as good. If they could get Hutton for three years at 1.5 or less, per, and build him up, he might turn into as good a value as Kempny. I like that you've got him on the third pair with a top four defenseman, to anchor him and get his plus minus up to normal. Graduating Djoos into the top four without a top pair guy like Orlov or Carlson on the ice to help him adjust to bigger minutes seems less exciting, but it's easy to switch them around and see what works. The team still has four proven top-four defensemen, plus Djoos, Siegenthaler, and Hutton, who all have top four potential, even if Hutton's latest audition for a #3 role ended up at -23. That still looks like a strong rotation to me, where if you manage guys' minutes and put them in situations to succeed, the young guys should all keep developing, while the old guys keep winning you hockey games.

ETA: to gauge Kempny's value to a team that's actually looking for a top pairing left defenseman, I posted a trade for an AHL #1C, a recent 2nd round pick, and Chicago's 2nd round pick next year on the Montreal side. Let's see if they tear it apart, or not? https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1398991