Avs opt for economical route, trade for goalie Kuemper

Priced out by the Seattle Kraken for goaltender Philipp Grubauer and left without much in terms of free agent options, the Colorado Avalanche have turned to a more economical strategy for acquiring a netminder.

First reported by Craig Morgan of AZCoyotesInsider.com, Arizona has traded goalie Darcy Kuemper to Colorado in exchange for defenseman Conor Timmins and a first-round pick.

Kuemper, on the final year of his contract, comes at a lower price — $5.5 million AAV — than what Grubauer was able to fetch from Seattle — $5.9 million.

The Coyotes will also retain $1 million of Kuemper’s cap hit, per Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, meaning the goaltender will count only $3.5 million toward the Avalanche salary cap.

Before the move was announced, Colorado had $12.38 million in cap space, per Spotrac.com.

Fan Avalanche Insider Adrian Dater called the trade a “potentially fine deal for the Avs,” as Kuemper is a “good goalie” and Timmins was trending toward the end of the defensive bench.

I think it’s a potentially fine deal for the Avs. Kuemper is a good goalie. Timmins was trending toward just 5-6 material in this organization. Avs hope the first rounder is 32nd pick

— Adrian Dater (@adater) July 28, 2021

In 27 games for Arizona last season, Kuemper went 10-11-3 with a .907 save percentage and a 2.56 goals against average.

Over his career, the 31-year-old Kuemper has played in 242 games for the Coyotes, Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings, garnering a 106-83-32 record with a career GAA of 2.47 and save percentage of .917.

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