Speculation: Trade Ideas and Free Agency IX - Wild Looking For A Defenseman?

[mezcal]

Kuemper looking to the KHL and holding out? I'd let him go, hasn't proven enough to already be pulling this kind of ****.

 

[Ban Hammered]

If he's looking one way & 2mil+...enjoy Russia kid.
IMO he and his agent have an over-inflated sense of his value.

 

[tomthestone*]

If he's looking one way & 2mil+...enjoy Russia kid.
IMO he and his agent have an over-inflated sense of his value.

Clearly he and his people are overplaying his value to the Wild and as an NHL goalie in the now. Maybe he'd have more leverage if he could've won that Colorado series, but he decided he wanted out of the game and that his head suddenly hurt from a collision that took place two hours prior. Funny that pain set in after he coughed up a go-ahead goal with less than 10 minutes to play.

 

[TheSauceBoss]

Enjoy ****hole Russia Kuemps. Let's bring back Bryz.

 

[Jarick]

Goalie stats with 20 starts:

5v5 GAA:

Harding = 1.43 (1st)
Kuemper = 1.93 (10th)
Bryzgalov = 2.09 (17th)
Backstrom = 2.55 (48th)

5v5 Save%:

Harding = 93.7 (3rd)
Kuemper = 92.9 (7th)
Bryzgalov = 92.2 (19th)
Backstrom = 90.3 (51st)

Kuemper was a top-10 goalie in the league last year. Kid earned a paycheck. I wouldn't want to give him more than two years and I wouldn't want to give him more than $3m per, but he's the Wild's best (and really only) option long-term.

 

[Hall of Faber]

I believe Kuemps is worth 3 million AVV over 3. He really did save our season twice. I believe he is the answer moving forward as well.

 

[this providence]

I believe Kuemps is worth 3 million AVV over 3.

Yikes

 

[Hall of Faber]

I think Jarick stats support my comment. Small sample size on him but it's up to Coach Mason and GMCF to decide his worth in the coming years.

 

[this providence]

I think Jarick stats support my comment. Small sample size on him but it's up to Coach Mason and GMCF to decide his worth in the coming years.

I think Jarick's stats support it's a systematic effect and not pure talent.

 

[Hall of Faber]

I think Jarick's stats support it's a systematic effect and not pure talent.

I agree, most goalies will succeed in the Wild's system. We have seen it since the start, but I see the talent in Kuemper to be a difference maker.

 

[tomthestone*]

I think Jarick's stats support it's a systematic effect and not pure talent.

That and it's an incredibly small sample size, for both Kuemper and Harding. Goalies can often set the world on fire until the league gets an idea of how to beat you consistently -- the same way a guy can fluke a decent first season in baseball, then look completely lost at the plate when teams have an entire offseason to figure out which pitches he can't hit.

Kuemper isn't worth such a high figure ($3M?!) until he proves he can put up similar numbers over a longer stretch of time. He still hasn't had to deal with the adjustment period every goalie goes through once their name is known by the rest of the league.

 

[Jarick]

Completely agree that the system allows for more successful goalies. There's a reason Harding, Kuemper, and Bryz were all top-20 goalies in the league.

Still, you need a goalie who can perform. Kuemper has great size and strong athleticism. It's way too early to say definitively what he is, but I would take my chances with him.

If Backstrom wasn't under contract, would anyone be complaining about giving Kuemper $3m per year? Look at how much these goalies make:

Lundqvist = 8.5
Rinne = 7
Rask = 7
Price = 6.5
Ward = 6.3
Crawford = 6
Miller = 6

Take Backs out of the equation and you'd be looking at a combined $5m or so for Kuemper and Harding. How is that an issue? Or take out Hards, and you have $6.5m. The tandem is making less than a big chunk of starters in the league.

Kuemper has done everything he's been asked to do so far. You can't ask a kid who hasn't made any money to take a discount because of mismanagement of the roster.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I believe Kuemps is worth 3 million AVV over 3. He really did save our season twice. I believe he is the answer moving forward as well.

I'm a big Kuemper supporter, but 3m at this stage is nuts.

His 2nd contract comparables are guys like Bernier and Schneider. Guys who were legitimate starter prospects, with 30ish games coming off their ELC.

They both signed 2 year, 1 ways deals, around 1m. Which is what Kuemper should be signing soon.

Boils down to this.

If Mckienzie is correct, and the Wild are holding firm on a 2 way deal. I support Kuemper, because that's an insult.

If the unsourced rumors he is asking for 2.5-4m are correct, the Wild are right in playing hardball.

 

[this providence]

I think giving Kuemper $3m per while still not having a tenure that supports one season of an NHL workload volume while proving to be injury prone would qualify as mismanagement. Especially when you see what this team can get out of a goaltender with a pulse.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I think Jarick's stats support it's a systematic effect and not pure talent.

There probably is a bit of systematic, but to discredit talent isn't right either.

Kuemper has been absolutely dominate no matter where he played since been drafted. WHL, ECHL(with two different teams), AHL , and has had a pretty dang good showing in the NHL once he got his feet wet.

 

[this providence]

Mileski on KFAN just said Kuemper is asking for a deal that pays him more than Backs' per...

 

[tyratoku]

Mileski on KFAN just said Kuemper is asking for a deal that pays him more than Backs' per...

Kuemper and his agent sound like tremendous tools at the moment. Wow.

 

[W75]

I could live with 1,5ish mil/year and max 2 years. Kind of a bridge contract. Kuemper was good last year, but he's far from proven.

Kid's got a lifetime opportunity to become an NHL goalie with this team. Figure, only two goalies with very very uncertain future in front of him. If Kuemper's willing to throw that chance away, can't really help him.

Still, need to wait and see what's really going on. But in the end, these negotiations shouldn't be that hard.

 

[Minnesota]

There probably is a bit of systematic, but to discredit talent isn't right either.

Kuemper has been absolutely dominate no matter where he played since been drafted. WHL, ECHL(with two different teams), AHL , and has had a pretty dang good showing in the NHL once he got his feet wet.

I wouldn't say he's dominated at the NHL level yet. There were quite a few games last season where he struggled.

 

[Victorious Secret]

Wut.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I wouldn't say he's dominated at the NHL level yet. There were quite a few games last season where he struggled.

Like I said, he was pretty dominate after he got his feet wet.(As Jarek showed, even with his early struggles, he finished top 10 in goalies with over 20 games). We know that's a small sample size, but it is dominate.

Everyone has the Toronto game stuck in their head. Heaven forbid he have an adjustment period to the NHL. He was lights out Jan-April

 

[ThatGuy22]

CHL goaltender of the year and WHL player of the year isn't a legit starting prospect?

Mmk. I can dismiss the rest of what you say from assertions such as the former.

I think you misread. Those are his comparables, they are similar. Because he is, like they were, a legitimate starting prospect.

 

[Victorious Secret]

I think you misread. Those are his comparables, they are similar. Because he is, like they were, a legitimate starting prospect.

So much dyslexia.

But he will have become a starting goalie far before they had. Hence his ability to ask for a different contract. Schroeder backed up Luongo and Bernier backed up Quick far into their second contract. Kuemper will already be situated into a starter role before his second contract. Huge difference.

 

[ThatGuy22]

So much dyslexia.

But he will have become a starting goalie far before they had. Hence his ability to ask for a different contract. Schroeder backed up Luongo and Bernier backed up Quick far into their second contract. Kuemper will already be situated into a starter role before his second contract. Huge difference.

I don't see how. Kuemper's 2nd contract is going to start whenever he signs. Those guys were still backups, and their role started to increase into a bit more of a timeshare in their 2nd contracts.

Just like Kuemper is poised to do this season and next. He may be the unequivocal 1 by the time its up.

But we don't know that for sure.

 

[Victorious Secret]

With the mystery of Harding and Backstrom, he has plenty of leverage to try and get a one-way contract. One could argue that he became the starting goalie last year, as well. And the litmus difference between him and Bryz in the playoffs shows a lot, as well.