Minnesota Wild: Lack of Consistency Could Down Kuemper
The Minnesota Wild have never doubted that Darcy Kuemper has the talent to an excellent NHL goaltender for many years. His performance and lack of consistency seem to suggest that despite that talent his long-term NHL longevity could be at risk.
Minnesota Wild
It seems like every time Darcy Kuemper is announced to start Wild fans everywhere get a little nervous. Consistency is just something that has not came easily to the 26 year-old backup netminder, so it always hard guess whether the Wild will get a performance that propels the Wild to a win, or one that is at the center of a loss.
In his most recent contest in Winnipeg on last Tuesday, Kuemper had only what can be described as a hard game. His inability to hold a 5-2 lead, mixed with the fact that he let in goals less than two minutes apart from each other in the 3rd period to let the Jets tie the game, got him pulled from that start in favor of Devan Dubnyk who was able to calm the game down enough to allow for the Wild to win. Kuemper finished with stat line 5 goals allowed on 29 shots for a save percentage of .828.
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What even more perplexing is that in his previous start against Dallas, Kuemper was great stopping 34 of 35 shots for a .971 save percentage. But looking at this season he has put up a save percentage under .900 7 different times out of 14 starts. That means that 50% of the time this season he really has failed to achieve the goaltender’s Mendoza Line if you will for save percentage. It a consistency problem.
This lack of consistency is why the Wild are having a very hard time counting on Kuemper in the long run. This season was supposed to be the season that we saw him start to have enough consistency and confidence that he could possibly take on more of a heavy game load to help out Dubnyk. He’s been unable to do that, and it seems that the Wild have really been reluctant to use him in a role outside of starting one of the back-to-back games that have been in the schedule thus far.
With his contract expiring this summer, Kuemper will be a UFA for the first time in his career. Had he played a little better this season he could have cashed in a bit more on that fact. Had he stepped his game up a bit more he could have signed for a bit more to keep being the Wild’s backup, or had he played well enough he might have been able to sign with a team for more playing time and more money.
Alas it seems that won’t happen now. Other teams only need to see his stats this season to know that he’s not able to handle the load he’s given now, and therefore Kuemper is not even close to being considered a starter. Right now the question should be if he should even be a backup.
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Reading the writing on the wall with the signing of Alex Stalock, Kuemper’s days in Minnesota are numbered. He’s going to demand too much salary for the inconsistent play he’s been giving. Stalock offers the Wild as much or even possibly more stability at a much lower price. Not to mention his salary is going to need to be redistributed to help sign the Niederreiters, Haulas, and Granlunds of the world.
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It’s a shame, but what we’ve learned again this season is that Darcy Kuemper is not ready to be a NHL starter and may never be. He’s talented there’s no doubt, but at some point that talent needs to translate to consistent results which he has yet to find in now his fifth NHL season. Once again it’s a shame, but in the end Kuemper isn’t making his case to stay in Minnesota.