Early 2022 predictions for Darcy Kuemper

Darcy Kuemper promises to give the Washington Capitals something they haven’t had in a couple of years: stability in net.

He not only has a Stanley Cup on his resume but he has proved himself as a veteran goalie. He clearly was on the Caps radar as soon as they were eliminated and general manager Brian MacLellan decided to part ways with Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov.

MacLellan summed it up in one of his offseason press conferences with the media earlier this summer:

“I guess it’s a little frustrating that I wish one of them would have taken over the No.1 spot. And it seemed like one or the other were going to, but then they never quite did it and I think we ran out of time to wait for it. I still think they both have good futures in the NHL. They’re still young, they’re still improving. It was just a situation where we tried it and we don’t have more time to stick with them both.”

Last season Kuemper played in 57 games while backup goalie Pavel Francouz appeared in 21 games. I say this season Kuemper plays in 60 games while new backup goalie Charlie Lindgren plays in 20 while we see two starts of Zach Fucale.

Last year in the regular season, Kuemper went 37-12-4 with a .921 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average. In the playoffs he had a 10-4 record in 16 games with a 2.57 goals against average and a .902 save percentage.

Based on those numbers, I could see Kuemper going 40-12-8 in those 60 games started. Even if he wins 35 games, that’s still an improvement from what the Caps had in goal the last two years.

Kuemper said this in his first meeting with the D.C. media:

“Super excited for the new opportunity. This is a team that can win it. That’s always a lot of fun to be a part of. Really looking forward to getting started. It’s going to be a short summer, but I can’t wait to get down there and meet the guys.”

Kuemper is a big and significant upgrade in goal for the Capitals. Vitek Vanecek went 41-22-10 in his two seasons with the Caps posting a .908 save percentage in back to back seasons. Samsonov, had an .896 save percentage last season which was a career worst in his three seasons.

Kuemper has had save percentages of .921, .908, .928, and .925 in his last four seasons which included three with the Arizona Coyotes.

It’s going to be exciting to finally have a veteran goaltender back on the Capitals. I think Kuemper was the right choice and the best move the Caps made this offseason. It was also the most important for the present and the future.