Confirmed Signing with Link: [ARI] Darcy Kuemper extended (2 years, $4.5M AAV)

[torniojaws]

I dont get why Arizona is extending him now, hes been fairly inconsistent over the years, they have Raanta signed till the end of 20-21 and they just claimed comrie

Raanta was injured almost the entire last season, and after a week of preseason this year, he is again injured.

Arizona Coyotes recall goaltender Ivan Prosvetov with Raanta day-to-day

 

[ColdSteel2]

He was one of the top goalies in the league last year. Great signing. Raanta is good too, but he has always had injury issues. If Kuemper duplicates what he did last year, he could have commanded 6M+. They probably like what they’ve seen in camp so they signed him.

Not a Chayka fan by any means, but he and his staff found a gem in Kuemper. I doubt many people watched him with the Wild and Kings and saw a future starter, let alone a top tier one.

 

[torniojaws]

The plan as I understand it is to run all the other goalies in the league and drive up demand, and then take advantage of the depth they are sitting on.

Ah, the good old Philadelphia Method

 

[ShelbyZ]

He was one of the top goalies in the league last year. Great signing. Raanta is good too, but he has always had injury issues. If Kuemper duplicates what he did last year, he could have commanded 6M+. They probably like what they’ve seen in camp so they signed him.

Not a Chayka fan by any means, but he and his staff found a gem in Kuemper. I doubt many people watched him with the Wild and Kings and saw a future starter, let alone a top tier one.

I kind of remember when he was seen as the future for the Wild after he seemed to outplay and outlast the crazy goalie carousel with guys like Harding, Backstrom, and Bryzgalov... Then Dubnyk came in and completely stole the show.

But I also remember when he was traded to the Coyotes and people were wondering why Chayka paid what seemed to be an overpayment for a #2 goalie...

 

[danielpalfredsson]

But they also have Antii Raanta on a similar deal, who I think is better than Kuemper but can't stay healthy

Not signing Kuemper doesn't erase the Raanta deal.

If you feel he can't stay healthy, that is a point towards this deal.

Ultimately, 9 or so million on goalies under an 81.5+ cap is fine. Lots of teams spend 6-7 on a starter and then 1.5-2 on a backup or 8-10 on a starter and 1M on a backup.

 

[ColdSteel2]

I kind of remember when he was seen as the future for the Wild after he seemed to outplay and outlast the crazy goalie carousel with guys like Harding, Backstrom, and Bryzgalov... Then Dubnyk came in and completely stole the show.

But I also remember when he was traded to the Coyotes and people were wondering why Chayka paid what seemed to be an overpayment for a #2 goalie...

Right, and the Coyotes signed him to the original extension immediately after the trade. It wasn’t cheap either, like 2M per. At that time, it seemed strange but they must have saw something. I don’t know, is Sean Burke still with them? Someone knew he was the real deal straight away.

 

[ShelbyZ]

Right, and the Coyotes signed him to the original extension immediately after the trade. It wasn’t cheap either, like 2M per. At that time, it seemed strange but they must have saw something. I don’t know, is Sean Burke still with them? Someone knew he was the real deal straight away.

Maybe they see something similar in Comrie, too.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

Not signing Kuemper doesn't erase the Raanta deal.

If you feel he can't stay healthy, that is a point towards this deal.

Ultimately, 9 or so million on goalies under an 81.5+ cap is fine. Lots of teams spend 6-7 on a starter and then 1.5-2 on a backup or 8-10 on a starter and 1M on a backup.

I guess it's difficult to give Arizona the benefit of the doubt because they are always bad

 

[TheLegend]

Raanta was injured almost the entire last season, and after a week of preseason this year, he is again injured.

Arizona Coyotes recall goaltender Ivan Prosvetov with Raanta day-to-day

Raanta hasn't played a regular season game in 10 months. He was shakey in his only preseason start against a Kings split squad.

There's a ton of rust on him and that takes time to eliminate. Even though the Coyotes have shown they aren't going to push players back out there who aren't ready, he's going to be the backup to Kuemper tomorrow night in Anahiem since Comrie's still trying to get his visa paperwork straightened out.


EDIT: Raanta was sent to AHL Tucson on a conditioning assignment. Roadrunners play their first three games on the road beginning Friday @ Texas. Hill is backing up Kuemper.

 

[XX]

I guess it's difficult to give Arizona the benefit of the doubt because they are always bad

Almost made the playoffs with half a lineup on IR thanks in large part to Kuemper.

Right, and the Coyotes signed him to the original extension immediately after the trade. It wasn’t cheap either, like 2M per. At that time, it seemed strange but they must have saw something. I don’t know, is Sean Burke still with them? Someone knew he was the real deal straight away.

Chayka has his own goalie evaluation he does, which is a large part of why he plucked Raanta off the Rangers. Sean Burke is long gone.

Comrie is just a cheap, young body because Raanta isn't up to gamespeed yet.

 

[SherVaughn30]

This tells me the Coyotes are starting to get annoyed with Raanta's injuries. Kuemper has been reliable for them and Raanta's has not, regarding durability. To the person above who said this is a Koskinen effect, they are way off saying that. Koskinen was given starter money from a bad GM, when he hadn't quite proven he could be a #1 goalie. Koskinen has been mediocre at the best while Kuemper has been really good. Kuemper has far exceeded what the Coyotes had expected of him. He has also shown he might be able to handle the #1 job, similar to what Grubauer was doing when Varlamov was still with the Avs.

 

[Bruce Granville]

First I thought the Canes traded for him...

 

[M.C.G. 31]

First thing that came to mind was if this had expansion draft in mind, but Raanta also has an injury history and extra insurance with someone proven reliable and who was fantastic for them last season doesn’t hurt at all.

 

[crowi]

It's really unfortunate Raanta just can't stay healthy. I'm of opinion he has the potential to be one of the best goalies in the league. I also don't see him ever being healthy to be one.

It makes sense to sign a decent goalie for insurance.

 

[Newsworthy]

Is he better than Koskinen?

 

[ArizonaCoyotes19]

Couldn't this deal have been signed mid or late season when you have a better idea if last year wasn't a fluke? If it was a fluke then you either walk away from him or sign him to a much cheaper deal? Seems like some pretty decent risk. Hell, they already seemingly screwed up on the Raanta contract, and now they take a risk again?

If Kuemper gets off to a hot start, there is no way he signs the same type of deal. If he plays like he did last season a team would definitely pay him $6M-plus for multiple years.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Is he better than Koskinen?

Yeah I mean, this isn’t far off from the Koskinen contract we all mocked Chia for.

 

[rt]

Is he better than Koskinen?

He was 5th in Vezina voting last season.

 

[Snarky Coyote]

That whizkid GM in Arizona is doing it again and all thanks to his EA NHL 2012 simulator. What a genius.

Hey we got a billionaire owner GMJC is playing with the preorder deluxe edition of NHL 20. The one with all the preorder hut packs

 

[Wasted Talent]

How has Kuemper's mental game been in Arizona? I remember how he used to look like a legit starter at times in Minnesota until one soft goal against would just send him in a downward spiral for multiple games. If he has gotten over that, he sure should be worth that AAV.

 

[Name Nameless]

The question is why do you need to extend NOW? It's not like he's gonna command much higher if he did as good as last season, especially in a most likely shared situation.

You gonna explain to Florida you can get an elite UFA - goalie for 4.5 mill, or someone else would have to do it?

Of course he would have commanded more -much, much more- if he had another season like the last and was headed for UFA.

 

[TheLegend]

How has Kuemper's mental game been in Arizona? I remember how he used to look like a legit starter at times in Minnesota until one soft goal against would just send him in a downward spiral for multiple games. If he has gotten over that, he sure should be worth that AAV.

He had one short stretch last season where he admitted he wasn’t happy with how was playing and then put in some extra work with the Coyotes’ goalie coach (Corey Schwab) to straighten it out. He was fine after that.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Honestly, if it was long term, I’d say maybe it’s on the line of being mediocre or not so good. But for two years? If it’s works out, it’s a great deal. If it doesn’t, it’s only two years. It’s not like they’re locked into a marriage. Solid deal given how good he was last season.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Wait, what?

I get that he was good last year, but back-ups having one good season when thrust into a bigger role is not exactly uncommon. He was basically a generic stock back-up until last year.

*shrugs*

Whatever, Coyotes fans don't seem to hate it and Raanta can't be counted on to start 55 games a year, so whatever. I just think most back-ups in this league are capable of running as hot as Kuemper has on occasion. Finishing 5th in Vezina voting once honestly doesn't mean much more than 5 people voted for him in a year where a lot of the top goalies had down years.

 

[seafoam]

I like this a lot. It’s not unfathomable that Kuemper is a good goalie and that last season wasn’t a fluke and he has finally figured it out. Sometimes you see the bigger ones take longer to develop, and Arizona’s in a position where Raanta hasn’t been healthy enough to be a true #1. 4.5M is 1B money which is really what he is for them.

And he’s starting game 1.