NHL trade rumors: 5 teams who should trade for Darcy Kuemper
The latest NHL trade rumors have the Arizona Coyotes shopping Darcy Kuemper. Here are the five best fits for him.
The goaltending market this offseason is going to be fascinating. There are going to be free agents like Braden Holtby, Mike Smith, Robin Lehner, and Anton Khudobin. However, the most fascinating name could be on the trading block. According to the latest NHL trade rumors, the Arizona Coyotes are pondering trading their star goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
If this is true, Darcy Kuemper is likely the best goaltender on the market (with all due respect to Lehner). He’s been one of the best goaltenders in the league over the past two seasons. Among goalies who have played in at least 50 games since the start of the 2018-19 season, his .926% save percentage ranks second only to Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars (.927%).
Furthermore, his .928% save percentage this season ranked third among goalies with at least 25 games. Though Kuemper is 30 years old, he’s hitting the prime of his career and his body doesn’t have as many miles on it as other goalies his age since he’s only played in 215 regular season games and he’s only played in at least 30 games in a season twice.
But what makes Kuemper especially appetizing on the trade market is his contract. He’s signed for the next two seasons at a $4.5 million cap hit. This ranks 17th among goalies, though keep in mind this doesn’t include goalies like Jacob Markstrom, Robin Lehner and Braden Holtby, who don’t have contracts for next season.
I bet you’re wondering why the Coyotes would even want to trade Kuemper if he’s this good. Well, they’re considering rebuilding and they don’t have many draft picks. Kuemper could easily help them replenish the draft picks they’ve lost by trading for Taylor Hall and via the punishment they’re facing for illegally scouting players.
Do I think the Coyotes are going to trade Kuemper? No, I’ll believe it when I see it. But anything’s possible. So let’s look at the five best fits for Kuemper.
Honorable Mentions
The Toronto Maple Leafs would have to trade Frederik Andersen first, but if they do that, Kuemper would be one heck of an upgrade for them. They’d have other problems to work out, but anytime you can add someone like Kuemper for just $4.5 million annually, you’ve got to explore it.
Let’s say the Vancouver Canucks don’t re-sign Jacob Markstrom. I wonder if they’d be interested in Kuemper? Thatcher Demko has a bright future, but he’s not ready to be a number one goalie yet. It would probably take more than $4.5 million a year to sign someone like Lehner or Markstrom. Two years is enough time to let Demko and their impressive goalie prospects develop.
The Vegas Golden Knights could make sense, though they’ve already got Marc-Andre Fleury. $11.5 million is a lot to spend on goaltending. Depending on what the Chicago Blackhawks do with Corey Crawford, maybe Kuemper would make sense for them.
5. Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a great team who don’t have many holes to fill. Additionally, they could splurge if they wanted to, as they have over $20 million of cap space and no major RFAs or UFAs to re-sign. After re-signing guys like Andre Burakovsky, Ryan Graves, Valeri Nichushkin, and Tyson Jost, they’ll probably still have over $10 million to play with.
Now, I have no clue how bad the pandemic has hurt the Avalanche’s finances. It’s hurt a lot of teams, though. So maybe the Avalanche don’t want to spend to the cap. But they should consider it since they are very close to winning a Stanley Cup.
One of their very few holes is their goaltending. Philipp Grubauer has had trouble staying healthy and his injury against the Dallas Stars might well be why they’re likely going to lose to them in the second round. Pavel Francouz is a solid goalie, but he’s struggled against the Stars.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to me if they trade one of those goalies. If this happens, Kuemper would make a ton of sense for the Avalanche. He’s relatively cheap and he’s one of the best goalies in the world. The lone downside to trading for Kuemper is his contract doesn’t perfectly line up with Cale Makar’s entry-level contract, which expires after next season.
Colorado would have to get creative for Kuemper to make sense, but they’ve been aggressive in the past. Remember, they tried to sign John Tavares and Artemi Panarin in consecutive offseasons. I think if they make a splash, it’ll be at forward, but Kuemper is an undeniably plausible target for them.
4. Edmonton Oilers
I know, I know, the Edmonton Oilers are in the same division as the Arizona Coyotes. Why would they send a Vezina Trophy-caliber goalie to a division rival? Well, in my opinion, it would be silly for the Coyotes to take away some of Kuemper’s strongest suitors. The Oilers could really use a goalie like him.
They already have Mikko Koskinen signed at $4.5 million annually. Yes, the same price as Kuemper. It’s clear they need to have a tandem of sorts. Koskinen’s simply not a number one goalie. The numbers show it. You could say the same thing about Kuemper because of his injury history. A Kuemper and Koskinen tandem could be really good, albeit a bit expensive at $9 million a year.
Much like the Avalanche, the Oilers would probably have to make other moves to make going after Kuemper make sense. They’d likely have to trade someone making fairly substantial money. Darnell Nurse might make the most sense.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could be an option as well, although if the Oilers want to be Stanley Cup contenders, I don’t think there’s a RNH trade out there that would make them better next year than they are with him.
Again, the Oilers would have to get creative to trade for Kuemper, but I could see it making sense.
3. Calgary Flames
Yup, another division rival. The Calgary Flames really need to get another goaltender. “Big Save” David Rittich has a fun nickname, but he’s clearly not a number one goalie. He’s pretty good as a backup or a 1b goalie, though. The Flames, much like their Alberta rivals, utilize a goaltending tandem. Kuemper would make a ton of sense for the Flames.
They haven’t had a goalie of his caliber in years. Kuemper wouldn’t solve the Flames issues, but he could sure as heck help them mask their defensive flaws. He’d also buy them another two years to find their future in the net.
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However, it’s fair to ask if the Flames have enough to get Kuemper. I don’t think a Johnny Gaudreau or Sean Monahan swap would make sense for the Coyotes because they want draft picks. They could do that swap and then trade whoever they got for draft picks, but that would require a lot more thinking and planning than most NHL general managers like to do.
The Flames would be able to offer their first round pick, which is a nice start. But after that, I don’t know. That said, the Flames should absolutely be interested in Kuemper and it wouldn’t totally surprise me if they found a way to pull it off.
2. Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres have been stuck in mediocrity for a whole decade. It’s been nine years since they last made the playoffs and 13 years since they last won a playoff series. One has to think the Sabres are going to start making some huge changes. If they want to be taken seriously, they need to address their goaltending. Kuemper would make sense for a variety of reasons.
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Firstly, Linus Ullmark is not a number one goalie. Kuemper at least has the talent necessary to be a number one goalie. Ullmark’s a perfectly capable backup goalie. Kuemper could start about 55 games and Ullmark could handle the rest. That’s a pretty solid tandem.
Secondly, the Sabres would probably have to pay someone like Holtby, Markstrom, or Lehner more than Kuemper anyway. So if they want to upgrade their goaltending, Kuemper is someone Buffalo should look at.
The Sabres would probably have to find a way to get rid of Carter Hutton first, though. Buying him out might be the only option. I can’t see any teams lining up to trade for Hutton’s $2.75 million cap hit for next season given his struggles this season. The Sabres are going to make changes. Don’t be surprised if Kuemper is a part of it.
1. Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes need to upgrade their goaltending more than any other Stanley Cup contender. They already have Petr Mrazek and James Reimer under contract for next season, but trading one of them wouldn’t be too difficult. If they choose to go that route, Darcy Kuemper would make so much sense for the Hurricanes.
Earlier, I wrote that the Canes should go after Robin Lehner. Pretty much every reason they should go after Lehner applies to Kuemper. He’s a top-notch goaltender and he could be the missing piece for the Hurricanes, who keep on running into the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
However, I’d argue Kuemper might make even more sense for the Hurricanes than Lehner. First of all, he’s cheaper. I’d be very surprised if Lehner gets less than $4.5 million a year this offseason, even in one of the worst free agent markets ever from a player’s perspective.
Secondly, Kuemper has two years left on his deal. Think of it as signing Kuemper for two years at $4.5 million annually. I’d take that in a heart beat over, say, four or five years at a higher price for Lehner.
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The Hurricanes have the 13th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Why not use that pick to trade for Kuemper?