Since the NHL’s 1967 expansion, only 31 goaltenders have been in net when their team clinched the Stanley Cup. In 2022, Darcy Kuemper joined that exclusive club, winning the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche—the team’s first championship since Patrick Roy backstopped them to glory in 2001.
For Kuemper, it was a long and winding road to the top, with stops in Minnesota, Arizona, Los Angeles, and Colorado. From 2019 to 2022, Kuemper was arguably one of the most efficient goaltenders in the NHL.
Following his championship performance with Colorado, Kuemper signed a five-year, $26 million contract with the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2022. It wasn’t just the silverware that allured the Caps – Kuemper’s underlying stats in Colorado were just as sparkling.
Darcy Kuemper, signed 5x$5.25M by WSH, has been one of the best goalies in hockey in the past three seasons. Despite winning a Cup, he’s flown under the radar thanks to playing in Arizona and then suffering an eye injury in round one that hurt his play on the big stage. #AllCaps pic.twitter.com/eJT5M0cM0g
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 13, 2022
However, as with most plateau’s, there’s a steep cliff not too far away. Kuemper’s first season in Washington, 2022-23, saw his goals-against average (GAA) and save percentage (SV%) take a slight dip. Nothing to sound the alarms for though as Washington struggled as a team, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Last season, however, Kuemper showed the first real signs of decline in his game as he began to allow low and medium danger shots to get by him at career worst clip.
Darcy Kuemper, acquired by LA, is a veteran goaltender. Was pretty solid up until this season, when he put up some of the league’s worst numbers and lost his starting job. #GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/yJcLM6eDp4
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 19, 2024
To be fair, the Capitals’ defensive unit did little to support him. One could argue Kuemper would have fared better on a team that prioritized puck possession and defense—like, for example, the Los Angeles Kings
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26th in Corsi 27th in Fenwick 25th in xG% 23rd in GA 29th in GD 23rd in SA 27th in HDCA |
4th in Corsi 2nd in Fenwick 3rd in xG% 5th in GA 10th in GD 4th in SA 4th in HDSA |
As illustrated above, the Capitals were a bad hockey team. However that didn’t seem to bother Charlie Lindgren, the Caps’ journeyman backup goaltender who snatched the starting job from Kuemper and never relinquished it. Lingren finished the season 11th in the NHL is GSAx (10.5) whereas Kuemper finished 41st (-4.8) playing in front of the same team. Even though Lindgren himself faded a bit in April and in the playoffs, there is no question that he was flat out stealing games for the Capitals when they had no business winning. This got them into the playoffs as, arguably, the weakest team of the 16 postseason clubs, as they finished the year with a putrid -32 goal differential and were promptly eliminated by the New York Rangers in 4 games.
As for Kuemper, brighter days could be ahead. In Los Angeles, he won’t be asked to steal games or put up ungodly underlying stats just to keep his team afloat. Instead, he’ll need to be a steady, unspectacular contributor behind a team that boasted the fifth-best defense in the NHL and prioritized insulating their goaltenders—evidenced by the resurgence of then 36-year-old Cam Talbot. Can he replicate Talbot’s numbers? It likely doesn’t matter. What will matter is if Kuemper can make the coveted “important save” when it matters the most, and as a Stanley Cup Champion, he’s the first goalie the Kings have had since Jonathan Quick that has experienced and succeeded in those moments.
