The Washington Capitals selected goaltender Nicholas Kempf with their fourth-round draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft (114th overall).
Kempf is an Illinois-born netminder out of the US National Development Team program. He is committed to the University of Notre Dame in the NCAA.
Kempf was the fourth-ranked North American goaltender by NHL Central Scouting. He appeared in 37 games for the U18 US Team last year, posting a 23-7-0 record with a 2.99 goals-against average, a .897 save percentage, and three shutouts.
The six-foot-two-inch, 190-pound backstop starred at the U18 World Championship where he was Team USA’s number one goalie. He earned a silver medal at the tournament, going 5-0-0-1 in six starts and finishing with the best goals-against average (1.89) and save percentage (.919) among participating goaltenders.
Kempf has been teammates with Capitals’ second-round pick, Cole Hutson, for the last two seasons.
