LA Kings acquire goaltender Darcy Kuemper From the Washington Capitals in exchange for a forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Kuemper, 34, rejoins the Kings after appearing in 33 games with the Capitals this season, finishing with 13 wins, 14 losses, three draws and one shutout. The goaltender is a veteran who has played 389 NHL regular season games over 13 seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and Washington Capitals, including winning a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022.
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound goaltender has maintained a 2.61 ERA and .914 save percentage with 31 shutouts and has a career regular season record of 178 wins, 135 losses and 46 ties. In 34 career postseason appearances, Kuemper has a 17-10 record with a 2.72 ERA, .908 save percentage and two shutouts. In the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Kuemper has a 10-4 record with a 2.57 ERA, .902 save percentage and one shutout.
Kuemper last played for the Kings in the 2017-18 season, where he posted 10 wins, 1 loss, 3 ties, 3 shutouts, a 2.10 ERA and a .932 save percentage in 19 games.
Selected by Minnesota in the sixth round (161st overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Kuemper played his junior years with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League (WHL). As the Rebels' goaltender for three seasons, Kuemper finished his WHL career with a record of 94 wins, 60 losses, 17 draws, a 2.48 ERA, 0.914 save percentage, 19 shutouts and numerous league-wide honors. At the end of his final season with Red Deer, Kuemper was named WHL and CHL Goaltender of the Year, WHL Player of the Year and was named to the WHL First All-Star Team after posting a league-best 1.86 ERA and 0.933 save percentage in the 2010-11 season.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native played for Canada at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships in 2018 and 2021. Playing a total of 15 games across those two tournaments, Kuemper compiled a 2.30 ERA and .898 save percentage with one shutout and won a gold medal with Latvia in 2021.
