With goaltender injuries starting to pop up in this young season in the NHL, many have speculated that the Minnesota Wild should move backup netminder Darcy Kuemper. When looking close at a possible Kuemper trade the facts just don’t support the Wild trading him…at this time.
When the Wild were eliminated from the playoffs back in May GM Chuck Fletcher held a press conference where he addressed many of the concerns of the season and outlined possibilities for offseason. Most of the things that Fletcher outlined were in left you wondering what he actually would do, but he did clear state a couple of things he was pursuing to include a possible trade of backup goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Kuemper looked to be primed for a move as an unsigned RFA with lots of potential. Still the Wild tried to shop him, but couldn’t get a deal done. So the team signed on for Kuemper’s last season as an RFA with a 1-year $1.55 million contract. But it even after watching him sign that contract you had to think that his days with the Wild were being numbered.
None the less though Kuemper’s place on this Wild team is secure and there is no doubt he’s the backup. Still rumors seem to be bubbling a bit about Kuemper’s near term future and trade prospects because of early goaltender injuries in the NHL. Some are starting to wonder if trading Kuemper now to answer a small yet growing demand signal could be a good idea.
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The short answer is it’s not a good idea…at this time.
The simple fact for the Wild is their goaltender depth is not ready to lose Kuemper right now. If you trade him and Devan Dubnyk goes down, you’ve got Alex Stalock left who could step in but can you trust him to win games night in and night out?
Additionally, how much do other teams value Kuemper? My thought is not as much as the Wild. His performances as a regular starter has not been great. His issues that cause the acquisition of Dubnyk, are still fresh in people’s mind, and I think the question for most teams is if he has truly matured past those issues. His save percentage numbers just haven’t been spectacular with his highest season total in four seasons was .916. Other teams look at that and are not necessarily impressed.
Tied to his perceived performance, is even if a team really wants to trade for Kuemper what will they be willing to give? The Wild will need and want to get more than a mid-level prospect or mid-level draft pick in return for Kuemper. If teams don’t value Kuemper very high, he’ll never draw that kind of return.
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Moreover, timing matters and right now the time isn’t great. The more the season shapes up and teams become more desperate the more demand and increase in value Kuemper would have. If you’ve got a team that was in the pickle the Wild were in that brought Dubnyk to town during the 2014-15 season, you could see a good value trade for Kuemper. The idea that a team’s season might be lost if they don’t make a move tends to drive the value up for a player to fill that hole.
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Bottom line with Kuemper is don’t expect a move anytime soon. With most NHL teams tight on cap space and not very desperate yet, the Wild just won’t get a good deal for him yet. The deadline deal or a team wants Kuemper to try and stop to a mid-season slide could be more of a target time. For now the Wild are happy with their team and have no reason to do anything rash. Hard to say that a move needs to be made four games into the season.