The Los Angeles Kings might not be meeting expectations set before the 2025-26 season, but they are fielding some pretty good goaltending.
Entering Monday's NHL action, the Los Angeles Kings were fourth in the NHL in goals against per game (2.74), tied for eighth in save percentage (.904), ninth in shots against (1,356), and third in goals against (137).
While the Kings are struggling to score goals (Los Angeles is 28th in goals for per game), they are getting good performances from their goaltending and their defence. So far this season, Darcy Kuemper is twentieth in the NHL in save percentage (.902) while Anton Forsberg boasts a .907 save percentage.
With all of the above in mind, the Kings find themselves in a three-way battle with the San Jose Sharks and Seattle Kraken for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
While the Los Angeles Kings have found themselves in the NHL's top-ten in goaltending for much of the past five seasons, they do have another potential star goalie in their system: Carter George.
Selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft, Carter George has primarily split his time between the OHL, the AHL-affiliate of the Kings - the Ontario Reign, and the Canadian World Juniors' entry.
Though Carter George struggled statistically at the World Juniors - in the 2026 tournament, he conceded well over three goals per game and posted a good-but-not-great .869 save percentage - he's made a name for himself in the junior leagues. Through two total seasons played with the OHL's Owen Sound Attack, Carter George posted a 57-55-17 record. At the same time, he averaged around a .910 save percentage while also conceding just 3.05 goals per game.
Since his trade to the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, George has arguably been playing some of his best hockey. In the five games he's started since the trade, Carter George has an undefeated record while conceding just a single goal per game on average. He also has two shutouts; the most recent being a 3-0 win over the North Bay Battalion. His performance has helped Sault Ste Marie put together an eight-game winning streak, which has given them a three-point edge over the London Knights for fourth place in the Western Conference and has put them just six back of first place.
With Carter George putting together what could be a strong final campaign in the OHL (the maximum age of eligibility is 20 and Carter George turns 20 in May), is it time for the Los Angeles Kings to consider promoting him to a full-time role with the team ahead of the 2026-27 season?
Both Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg are going to be eligible for contract extensions this offseason; they'll also hit unrestricted free agency the following year. Darcy Kuemper carries a $5.25 million price tag and a no-movement clause, while Anton Forsberg's current contract has a $2.25 million annual cap hit.
Statistically, it's worth justifying bringing both goalies back on extensions. In his first full season back with the Kings, Darcy Kuemper posted a .922 save percentage, a goals against average of just two goals per game, and a 31-11-7 record. Meanwhile, to this point of his first season with the Kings, Anton Forsberg has posted an 8-6-4 record, a 2.56 goals against average, and a .907 save percentage.
At the same time, both goaltenders could see their statistics from the past few seasons and find themselves wanting a significant pay raise. The Kings will be able to pay one of their goaltenders; Los Angeles is going to have around $62.5 million in cap space to work with for their 2027-28 payroll. That is going to be helped by the fact that Anze Kopitar, whose last contract was worth $7 million annually, is set to retire after this season. The Kings are also going to have just two players worth more that $7 million annually on their roster after the 2026-27 season.
That said, Los Angeles can't just hand Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg two $7 million dollar extensions and call it a day. Just twelve players (four defencemen and eight forwards) are under contract for the 2027-28 season, and the only goaltender under contract for that year is Carter George. As of this writing, he's not even on the Kings' active roster. It's also worth mention young talents like defenceman Brandt Clarke and veterans like forward Joel Armia are up for contract.
Even with the Kings' roster situation in mind, I don't see a scenario where they don't get Darcy Kumper and Anton Forsberg re-signed; Kuemper should earn around $7 million at minimum, while Anton Forsberg could fetch around $5 million annually.
That said, I don't see either goalie locked up long-term. Darcy Kuemper is in his age-35 season, while Forsberg isn't that far behind at 33. I could see both goalies getting two year deals, but I wouldn't be surprised if Darcy Kuemper is only given a one-year extension.
With all of the above in mind, the Kings have some motivation to run three goalies on their roster for the 2026-27 season. The Kings are currently projected to have around $27.73 million in cap space for the 2026-27 season and they'll only need to fill a maximum of seven more roster slots for next season. One of those slots could be reserved for Carter George, who only carries a $846,000 cap hit for the next few seasons.
The Kings could also use a goaltender like Carter George. Carter George is confident with the puck and is more than capable of pushing a team's offensive tempo and sending passes up the ice. He's also more than able to just get the puck out of harm's way if needed.
Given that Los Angeles could use the work on its offence, having an offensive-minded and puck-moving goaltender like Carter George on the roster wouldn't exactly hurt. And with the right offseason moves, including another puck-moving defenceman and some offensive reinforcements, the Kings should be set for some improvement on the goalscoring end of the ice.
It remains to be seen how Carter George's campaign will end; he already has a World Junior bronze to his name while his Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds are in a pretty strong position to go on a deep playoff run. He's already in a great position to earn a full-time NHL callup; a strong end-of-season run could be what he needs to solidify an NHL job next year with the Kings.