Report Card: Assessing Darcy Kuemper to the Washington Capitals

Scott Cullen

Last Updated: July 13, 2022 10:02 AM EDT • 2 minute read

The Washington Capitals got rid of their top two goaltenders from last season, trading Vitek Vanecek to New Jersey and not giving Ilya Samsonov a qualifying offer, so it should come as no surprise that Washington paid a substantial price to stabilize the position, signing Darcy Kuemper to a five-year deal for $26.25 million.

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Darcy Kuemper to the Washington Capitals

Kuemper, 32, had a .921 save percentage in 57 regular-season games for Colorado last season before posting a .902 save percentage in 16 playoff games on the way to winning the Stanley Cup.

What makes him more appealing than most of the goalies on the free agent market is that Kuemper has a .921 save percentage in 197 games across the past five seasons. That level of consistency, and coming off a Stanley Cup win, naturally makes him a valuable commodity.

The question is how well a five-year contract will age with a 32-year-old goalie, but the Capitals still have a veteran core that is playing to win now and Kuemper will give them a chance to stay competitive, at least over the next few seasons.

Washington should still be on the lookout for a backup goaltender, unless they think that Zach Fucale is a legitimate NHL backup after he played well with Washington for four games last season.

The Capitals are not going into next season with huge expectations. Forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson are injured to start the year and Backstrom’s recovery might keep him out all season. Sportsbooks have the Capitals as relative Stanley Cup longshots, priced at +3500 on DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as +4000 on Caesars.

Signing Grade: B+

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Written by:
Scott Cullen

Scott Cullen is SportsbookReview.com's Sports Betting Analyst and is one of the most well-known sports betting writers on the web. He wrote about fantasy sports for TSN for many years, and he has also written for The Athletic, NHL.com, The Hockey News, Monkey Knife Fight, and McKeen's Hockey. Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Cullen was an Economics major at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario and played for the Laurier Golden Hawks hockey team.