The Washington Capitals have found their new starting goaltender. The Capitals signed veteran Darcy Kuemper to a five-year, $26.25 million deal to man the net in Washington.
Many regarded Keumper as the top goaltender available in free agency after manning the net for the Colorado Avalanche in route to a Stanley Cup championship this past season.
In 57 starts last season, he had a record of 37-12-4 with a .921 save percentage and 2.54 goals against average. During the playoffs, Kuemper went 10-4 with a .903 save percentage and 2.57 GAA, as the Avalanche won their first Stanley Cup title since 2001.
The Capitals entered free agency steadfast on acquiring a veteran goaltender. They departed with their two young goaltenders, trading Vitek Vanecek to the New Jersey Devils and decided not to extend a qualifying offer to Ilya Samsonov.
Early reports linked Washington to Kuemper just ahead of free agency. And they swooped in shortly after it started to land him. The deal comes with a $5.25 million annual average.
Kuemper spent the first seven seasons of his 10-year career as a backup. He had stops with the Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes. He landed his first starting role in Arizona. There, he started 55 games during the 2018-19 season with a career-best .925 save percentage.
After struggling with an MCL injury that limited him to 27 out of 56 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Coyotes traded Kuemper to the Avalanche and the rest is history.
Now, Kuemper is looking to give Washington its first viable veteran goaltender since Braden Holtby left following the 2019-20 season. The Capitals were hoping for New York Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist to take the reins in 2020. However, a discovered heart condition led to him retiring without him ever playing a game for Washington.
The Capitals turned to Samsonov and Vanecek for the past two seasons as a result. Hope was that one would emerge as the long-term option. However, after being bounced from the first-round of the playoffs for the fourth straight season, it was clear they needed a change in net.
