Going into this past season, starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper was perhaps among the biggest question marks for the Los Angeles Kings and head coach Jim Hiller. But Kuemper put those question marks to bed almost immediately at the start of last season for the Kings in the West.
The Kings brought in Kuemper last offseason via a trade with the Washington Capitals. Kuemper provided the Kings with a steady veteran presence in net this past season that helped LA finish the regular season with over 100 points and comfortably make the playoffs in the Western Conference.
For only the second time in his 13-year-pro career in the NHL, Kuemper reigstered over 30 wins and at least five shutouts. He finished up this past season for the Kings with a sparkling record of 31-11-7, with a career-best 2.02 goals against average and 0.921 save percentage.
Darcy Kuemper 2024-25 Los Angeles Kings player season recap
2024-25 season stats: 50 games played, 31-11-7, .921 save %, 2.02 GAA, 5 shutouts
2024-25 advanced stats: 22.5 goals saved above expected, 0.454 goals saved above expected/60, 3.75 WAR, 10.5 point shares
Kuemper needed a bounce-back season for the Kings after putting up below-average statistical numbers with the Capitals in the 2023-24 campaign in the Metro Division in the East. He not only returned to the level of play he showed with the Capitals and Colorado Avalanche in prior seasons in the early 2020s, but he also finished as a Vezina Trophy finalist for the first time in his career this past year for the Kings.
He provided the Kings with the steady presence between the pipes to help this team make the playoffs last season, bailing the team out and stopping high-danger shots frequently in clutch time for LA's defense. Kuemper was one of only three goalies last season in the NHL to stop over 80 percent of high-danger shot attempts they faced last year (per Money Puck).
As a sidenote, starting with this preview for Kuemper and the Kings' goalies, we're introducing wins above replacement in the advanced stats section for the season recap portion.
Rink Royalty season grade for Darcy Kuemper: A+
Darcy Kuemper 2025-26 Los Angeles Kings season preview
Since he had such a good campaign for the Kings this past season in 2024-25, Kuemper's remaining contract worth just over $5 million in average annual value looks like an absolute bargain cap hit for this front office in LA.
If Kuemper can consistently start at least 50 regular season games for the Kings in the remaining two years of his current contract with the team, he'll be the type of high-level goaltender that can keep this team in playoff contention from between the pipes.
The question for Kuemper will be whether he can maintain that high level of performance in goal with a larger workload of starting over half of the season's games for the Kings going into a campaign that he'll be 35 years old.