Washington Capitals
In need of a change in net, the Washington Capitals made perhaps the biggest splash in the free agent market for goaltenders by signing former Colorado Avalanche ‘tender Darcy Kuemper to a five-year deal. On Monday, the 32-year made his first appearance in Capitals attire at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, joining the team for their informal skates.
With training camp set to begin on September 22, the Caps have slowly but surely been welcoming more and more familiar faces to the MedStar ice prior to the start of training camp, with captain Alex Ovechkin among the recent arrivals. Kuemper, who will form a new-look netminding tandem with backup Charlie Lindgren this season, joined his new teammates Monday morning, giving the DMV their first look at the veteran goalie as a member of the team.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada native is coming off a 2021-22 season in which he went 37-12-4, with a Goals-Against Average of 2.54 and Save Percentage of .921, followed by a run to the 2022 Stanley Cup, helping the Avs capture their first title in over two decades by going 10-4 in the postseason with a 2.57 GAA, and .902 Save Percentage.
Just about everyone who’s expected to be on the opening night roster is in town as of this morning. Most were on the ice for the informal skate. The first official on-ice session is Sept. 22. #Caps https://t.co/UoIqD6XSLQ
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) September 12, 2022
Kuemper is the team’s de facto number one this season after the Caps made a complete overhaul in net during the offseason. The former sixth-round pick of the Minnesota Wild has a career record of 143-95-36 in 299 Games Played (282 starts), with a career Goals-Against Average of 2.48 and Save Percentage of .918.
By Michael Fleetwood
Those are some pristine pads. Needs to take some rubber. Haha!