Going into training camp and the preseason this fall, one of the Los Angeles Kings' biggest position battles will be to decide the starting goaltender.
A 2024-25 Vezina Trophy finalist, Darcy Kuemper faces a much different situation in goal going into the upcoming 2026-27 season for the Kings than he did this past fall.
Last fall, Kuemper entered the season as the unquestioned starting goaltender after finishing as a Vezina Trophy finalist the year before. This year, Kuemper will have to prove himself again after an inconsistent second half of the 2025-26 regular season for the Kings.
Kuemper was good for the Kings at the outset of this past regular season. It was a midseason injury that was really the biggest issue Kuemper faced this past year, as his production took a hit down the stretch in the 2025-26 regular season in the crease.
Darcy Kuemper showed last season that his best hockey might not be gone
In 50 starts, Kuemper registered a 19-14-15 record, .891 save percentage, 2.78 goals-against average, and three shutouts.
Kuemper got off to a pretty good start last fall, posting a points percentage north of .600, a .920+ save percentage, and two shutouts in the regular season's first three months. His numbers before the injury were really solid and make the case that Kuemper wasn't really declining steadily throughout the season. Instead, there was a noticeable drop-off in his performance after the injury.
There is a pretty clear line of when Kuemper started struggling due to the upper-body injury in the second half of this past regular season. His numbers in the season's first few months weren't far off his production from his Vezina finalist season in 2024-25.
Due to inconsistent play down the stretch this past regular season, Kuemper lost the starting job before the start of the postseason vs. the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
Age and competition could also start to catch up to Kuemper going into training camp this fall. Kuemper will turn 37 years old this upcoming season, and he was very much outplayed by Anton Forsberg down the stretch last season. Forsberg registered a .909 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average last season, and he was considerably better in goals saved above expected and quality start percentage.
Despite his struggles this past regular season, the Kings elected not to trade Kuemper or add another goalie going into training camp this fall. Kuemper and Forsberg will battle for the starting goalie job going into opening night.
It sounds like Kuemper is motivated and ready to bounce back this upcoming season in net for the Kings. He will have an opportunity to prove he deserves the crease going into opening night this upcoming regular season in training camp this fall.
Even though the Kings don't need Kuemper to fully regain his Vezina finalist form to make this upcoming season successful, he does need to stay healthy to find more consistency in the crease. If Kuemper can stay healthy and get somewhere close to the performance he had in the first half of this past regular season, that could create a really interesting position battle for the Kings in goal between him and Forsberg.
The bigger question pertaining to Kuemper this upcoming season is whether last season's second-half decline was the result of an injury that he never completely recovered from or if age is starting to catch up with him and potentially contributing to a decline. Training camp and the preseason this fall should start to give the Kings an answer to that question.
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