Avs opt for economical route, trade for goalie Kuemper
Jul 28, 2021, 6:23 PM
Priced out by the Seattle Kraken for goaltender Philipp Grubauer and left without much in terms of free agent options, the Colorado Avalanche have turned to a more economical strategy for acquiring a netminder.
First reported by Craig Morgan of AZCoyotesInsider.com, Arizona has traded goalie Darcy Kuemper to Colorado in exchange for defenseman Conor Timmins and a first-round pick.
Kuemper, on the final year of his contract, comes at a lower price — $5.5 million AAV — than what Grubauer was able to fetch from Seattle — $5.9 million.
The Coyotes will also retain $1 million of Kuemper’s cap hit, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, meaning the goaltender will count only $3.5 million toward the Avalanche salary cap.
Before the move was announced, Colorado had $12.38 million in cap space, per Spotrac.com.
Fan Avalanche Insider Adrian Dater called the trade a “potentially fine deal for the Avs,” as Kuemper is a “good goalie” and Timmins was trending toward the end of the defensive bench.
I think it’s a potentially fine deal for the Avs. Kuemper is a good goalie. Timmins was trending toward just 5-6 material in this organization. Avs hope the first rounder is 32nd pick
— Adrian Dater (@adater) July 28, 2021
In 27 games for Arizona last season, Kuemper went 10-11-3 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.56 goals against average.
Over his career, the 31-year-old Kuemper has played in 242 games for the Coyotes, Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings, garnering a 106-83-32 record with a career GAA of 2.47 and save percentage of .917.
