Injury Report: Darcy Kuemper (Marinating in Iowa)

[TheSauceBoss]

At first I was kind of "meh" on this but we locked up our likely starter for $1.25M aav....don't know any other starting goalies making that little money. And he's only 24.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

If he is only average when he was at his best we wouldnt have made the playoffs this year, He saved the Season in January

He got what he wanted in contact negotiations. We all know nobody on this forum would do everything they could to get more money at their job if they had a say in it!

Nope. Apparently most people here would "take one for the team" or, God forbid, be labeled a 'head case'.

 

[Jarick]

So all the hand-wringing and trashing the kid was for naught?

Great contract for the likely starter and goalie of the future.

Looking through this thread, you guys are nuts. Trashing him for a $1.25m contract? Head case? Why, because he didn't take league minimum?

Also, he didn't injure himself kicking a wall and hasn't had about half a dozen surgeries in the last several years.

But yeah, the kid is awful. How dare he negotiate a contract! You take what management gives you and not a penny more.

 

[Jaykay]

He's only average when he's at his best. He's not a goaltender that's going to take you anywhere. The fact that 2 for 2 contract negotiations with him have been a pita says a lot IMO.

I'll be glad when we have someone else here that is more of a legit goalie of the future. He's just a place holder right now IMO.

Wrong. Burnsy alluded to it already but his problem is consistency. When he gets in a zone he is very good and his coaches at every level have said that about him. He went 11-2-1 from the beginning of January through the end of February and posted a save percentage of .934. He just needs to have fewer clunkers.

Also, if he's not a goalie that's going to take you anywhere, what are Backstrom and Bryz?

 

[kfan22]

So all the hand-wringing and trashing the kid was for naught?

Great contract for the likely starter and goalie of the future.

Looking through this thread, you guys are nuts. Trashing him for a $1.25m contract? Head case? Why, because he didn't take league minimum?

Also, he didn't injure himself kicking a wall and hasn't had about half a dozen surgeries in the last several years.

But yeah, the kid is awful. How dare he negotiate a contract! You take what management gives you and not a penny more.

Thats what I said every single person ripping him would do the same thing if they were in his position

 

[Jaykay]

Thats what I said every single person ripping him would do the same thing if they were in his position

Spoken like a true head case.

 

[Jarick]

Behind the Net has him with the 10th best GAA in the league last year 5v5. I have him with the 7th best save percentage in the league last year 5v5. That's not at his best, that's total.

 

[Billy Mays Here*]

He's only average when he's at his best. He's not a goaltender that's going to take you anywhere. The fact that 2 for 2 contract negotiations with him have been a pita says a lot IMO.

I'll be glad when we have someone else here that is more of a legit goalie of the future. He's just a place holder right now IMO.

Wow, talk about ignorant. He's much better than just "average" when he's on his game. Either you're a Kuemper hater or you're letting these contract disputes go to your head way too much.

 

[plock]

Behind the Net has him with the 10th best GAA in the league last year 5v5. I have him with the 7th best save percentage in the league last year 5v5. That's not at his best, that's total.

Behind Harding but ahead of Backstrom also ahead of Price,Varlamov and Lundqvist,do you think he's better than them?

 

[ThatGuy22]

Behind both Harding and Backstrom.

Ha, ya no. Harding was certainly ahead of him, and would have been the starter. But now he's not so he is irrelevant.

To find Backstrom on a list of 5v5 Save Percentage, you've got to scroll a bit. He comes in at 54th.

 

[plock]

Ha, ya no. Harding was certainly ahead of him, and would have been the starter. But now he's not so he is irrelevant.

To find Backstrom on a list of 5v5 Save Percentage, you've got to scroll a bit. He comes in at 54th.

Yeah I fixed that hit the submit button too quick.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Behind Harding but ahead of Backstrom also ahead of Price,Varlamov and Lundqvist,do you think he's better than them?

Do you really believe that's what he was saying?

 

[plock]

Wow, talk about ignorant. He's much better than just "average" when he's on his game. Either you're a Kuemper hater or you're letting these contract disputes go to your head way too much.

He is a potenentially good goalie but 36 games is not enough to really make an adequate appraisal.Half of the games he has played he has had a GAA below .900 he has also gone below .800 4 or 5 times and below .700 2 or 3 times.IMO anything under .900 is not good enough for the NHL so half the time Kuempers play falls below what I would consider NHL level play,but thats just my opinion man.

 

[plock]

Do you really believe that's what he was saying?

No of course not the point I am making is the sample size (30-40 NHL games)is too small too make an assessment one way or the other and if you are going to do that you need to look at a broader array of stats.

 

[Sharppi]

How about we see this contract through and then make a new verdict. It's not like we can do anything about it

 

[nickschultzfan]

Backstrom is done at this point. But we can't buy him out. So we are screwed with him.

 

[TaLoN]

Wrong. Burnsy alluded to it already but his problem is consistency. When he gets in a zone he is very good and his coaches at every level have said that about him. He went 11-2-1 from the beginning of January through the end of February and posted a save percentage of .934. He just needs to have fewer clunkers.

Also, if he's not a goalie that's going to take you anywhere, what are Backstrom and Bryz?

The stats are more an attribute of how the team played in front of him imo. He looked bad when the team played bad, looked good when they played good...on a few occasions he looked bad when the team played great, but never did he look great when the team played bad...no stolen games.

 

[ThatGuy22]

He is a potenentially good goalie but 36 games is not enough to really make an adequate appraisal.Half of the games he has played he has had a GAA below .900 he has also gone below .800 4 or 5 times and below .700 2 or 3 times.IMO anything under .900 is not good enough for the NHL so half the time Kuempers play falls below what I would consider NHL level play,but thats just my opinion man.

Ha, any time a goalie lets in 3 goals(and often if they let in 2) they are going to have sub .900 save percentage. Its really not all that uncommen, even for elite goalies to have sub .900 games.

Post December when he was up for good he had
40% games below .9 w/ 2 below .8

for reference
Other Goalies
Quick - 48% games below .9 w/ 2 below .8
Lundqvist 35% w/ 4
Rask - 32% w/ 2
Price - 31% w/2

We'd like to get Kuemper's numbers down into the 30% to 35%, but he's really not that far off. If in one or two of those .890ish games he 2 more shots, and makes the save he's right there.

 

[kfan22]

The stats are more an attribute of how the team played in front of him imo. He looked bad when the team played bad, looked good when they played good...on a few occasions he looked bad when the team played great, but never did he look great when the team played bad...no stolen games.

See LA Kings game in January

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

No of course not the point I am making is the sample size (30-40 NHL games)is too small too make an assessment one way or the other and if you are going to do that you need to look at a broader array of stats.

The sample size is just fine for the contract that he received. If he was making Price/Lundqvist/Varlamov money, then there would be an issue.

 

[ThatGuy22]

The stats are more an attribute of how the team played in front of him imo. He looked bad when the team played bad, looked good when they played good...on a few occasions he looked bad when the team played great, but never did he look great when the team played bad...no stolen games.

We were routinely getting manhandled(talking .40% possession numbers), and winning games in January and Febuary due to Kuemper's play in net.

Jan 7th, outshot 40 - 17 against LA, won 2-1
Jan 18th, outshot 35-19 against Dallas, won 3-2
Jan 23rd, outshot 34 - 19 against Chicago, but won 2-1.
Feb 4th, outshot 35-26 against Tampa, won 2-1.
Feb 28th, outshot 31-23 against Vancouver, won 2-1.

I count 5 right there that he flat out stole.

 

[plock]

The sample size is just fine for the contract that he received. If he was making Price/Lundqvist/Varlamov money, then there would be an issue.

Just to be clear I have no problem with the contract.I just think peciling him in as the #1 goalie is a bit premature.

 

[plock]

Ha, any time a goalie lets in 3 goals(and often if they let in 2) they are going to have sub .900 save percentage.

So you're saying if a team has 40 shots and the goalie lets in 3 he would be sub .900?The math seems wrong to me.

 

[thestonedkoala]

Looking through this thread, you guys are nuts. Trashing him for a $1.25m contract? Head case? Why, because he didn't take league minimum?

The issue isn't the money for me. It's these prolonged disputes we are having with his agent. This is the second time that Kuemper has created a huge fuss with his contract. He clearly doesn't want to be with Minnesota with his initial contract threat and now using the KHL as a bargaining tool. My only issue is the one year contract. I really don't think Fletch had any issues with giving him a two year contract at a reasonable price that this is but it appears that Kuemper was holding out for a year contract. Probably a few other minor issues but the second year was the key.

Now would you give Haula 3 million a year for 3 years?

 

[TaLoN]

We were routinely getting manhandled(talking .40% possession numbers), and winning games in January and Febuary due to Kuemper's play in net.

Jan 7th, outshot 40 - 17 against LA, won 2-1
Jan 18th, outshot 35-19 against Dallas, won 3-2
Jan 23rd, outshot 34 - 19 against Chicago, but won 2-1.
Feb 4th, outshot 35-26 against Tampa, won 2-1.
Feb 28th, outshot 31-23 against Vancouver, won 2-1.

I count 5 right there that he flat out stole.

Forgot about the LA game, stand corrected there...yes he stole that one. That Dallas game...no way. I was there, the shots did not tell the story at all. Not all shots are created equal, and that game, yes the Stars had shots, but rarely any from the percentage areas. It was a game that you looked at the shot totals and were surprised, because the Wild dominated the actual scoring chances category.

It's not as simple as looking at shot totals to say a game was stolen.

You'd think Wild fans would know that best since we used to ONLY win when being outshot for over a decade.