INSIDER: Deal already in place for Darcy Kuemper - he is heading East
The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche were an absolute force this year which led to the cup victory, and as usual when a team wins, the unfortunate offseason of losing key players from the winning team begins shortly after.
The Avalanche resigned Val Nichushkin recently to a massive 8 year deal, but are most likely losing star center Nazem Kadri who played a huge role for the Avalanche this year both in the regular season and playoffs.
Another person that will be leaving the organization is starting goalie Darcy Kuemper. The Colorado Avalanche made a trade with the New York Rangers recently to bring in Alexander Georgiev, which meant the end of Kuempers time in Colorado.
Kuemper will be hitting free agency tomorrow and is apparently looking for a deal in the $5.5-6 million range for 6 years. Keumper had good season last year, going 32-12-4 with a .921 save percentage, but didn't play all that well in the playoffs, even though he won a cup. He only had a .902 SV% in the playoffs this season.
The Capitals biggest weakness last season was goaltending. They had a young tandem of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek who were good enough to get them into the playoffs, but both failed to help the Capitals in the playoffs. Vanecek was traded last week to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for some draft picks, and it was announced yesterday that Samsonov would not receive a qualifying offer, so he will go to free agency as well.
According to Bob Mackenzie, Kuemper will be heading to the Washington Capitals as soon as the free agent market begins at noon.
UFA period opens at 12 noon ET, we are on air at 11 am with @TSNHockey #FreeAgentFrenzy. As usual, deals already in place and players already reportedly tied to team(s). Such as Campbell (EDM), Kuemper (WSH), Copp (DET), Giroux (OTT). It will be a busy day.� Bobby Margarita (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 13, 2022
Details on the contract have not been made public yet, but Kuemper and his agent were looking for a 6 year 6 million deal.
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