It was an incredible season for Darcy Kuemper in his return to the Los Angeles Kings and he should be in contention for the Vezina Trophy. However, the season will be one that his backup, David Rittich, will probably want to forget, and he finished the season as one of the worst goalies in the NHL.
According to Money Puck, Rittich had the seventh-worst goals saved above expected at -11.4 with 88 goals against but an expected goals against of 76.62.
This was Rittich's second season with the Los Angeles Kings and had a solid first season with the team as he had a save percentage of .921 and a goals against average of 2.15 with three shutouts. However, the stats this season went in the other direction as he had a save percentage of .886 and a goals against average of 2.84.
It wasn't all bad from Rittich this season as he did have a stretch earlier in the year where he allowed two or fewer goals in 10 of 11 starts. However, as the season went along, the struggles were much more apparent and allowed four or more goals in five of his final seven starts.
Los Angeles Kings future at goaltender is in great shape with some prospects
It would be surprising if the Los Angeles Kings brought back David Rittich this offseason and instead went with a younger player as the backup to Kuemper next season. The good news is that they have some great options to choose from.
The most likely candidate would be Erik Portillo, who actually made his first career NHL start this season but has spent a majority of the season with the Ontario Reign. He unfortunately dealt with some injuries late in the season but this has opened the door for Carter George to be called up.
George was a second round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Kings and after his season ended with the OHL, he was added to the Reign's roster to fill in for Portillo. He would make his first career start in the AHL and would end up finishing with a shutout.
In addition to these two, the Kings former draft pick Hampton Slukynsky just helped the Western Michigan Broncos win a NCAA national championship.