The Washington Capitals wasted little time picking their new goalie after moving on from both Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov over the past few days. Stanley Cup champion Darcy Kuemper will be the latest Caps netminder after the club signed him to a five-year deal worth $26.25 million.
Washington traded Vanecek to the New Jersey Devils last week and let Samsonov walk via free agency, who signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs today.
Kuemper is coming off one of the best seasons of his ten-year career. The 32-year-old put up personal bests in starts (57), wins (37), and shutouts (5) while sporting a .921 save percentage and 2.54 GAA.
Kuemper followed up his solid regular season with a 10-4 mark in this year’s playoffs to go along with a 2.57 GAA, .902 save percentage, and one shutout. His postseason journey, of course, culminated in the former Coyote getting his first league title.
FanDuel Sportsbook has Kuemper’s former team as the odds-on-favorite to win next year’s Stanley Cup as the Avalanche lead the pack at +300. His new team is around the middle of the odds board at +4000.
