It was just one year ago when Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper was putting up Vezina-caliber numbers and being the backbone between the pipes that this franchise had been missing ever since the departure of the irreplaceable Jonathan Quick.
Acquired in a trade during the summer of 2024, with the Washington Capitals, that sent failed experiment Pierre-Luc Dubois back the other way, Kuemper had a bounce-back year in his first season back with the Kings, posting a .922 save percentage (SV%), 2.02 goals-against average (GAA), and ending the season as a Vezina Trophy finalist.
Kuemper started off the 2025-26 season well, and he needed to with the step back the Kings’ defensive group took in the offseason. Remaining one of the best teams at keeping the puck out of the net, the obvious downgrade to the backend would undoubtedly make strong goaltending even more important.
Kuemper’s Struggling
Since returning home from Milan with a silver medal, Kuemper hasn’t been the same, and the Kings can no longer remain fully confident in number 35, given the way he has performed over the past couple of months.
The Kings are in crunch time. Right in the middle of a sloppy yet competitive playoff race, the last six games mean everything for a team trying to make something out of a season that has been nothing but disappointing in multiple facets.
It’s one thing to look at the numbers and judge a player, and if you were to look at Kuemper’s numbers this season, especially as of late, you would be right in saying that they are unacceptable for a number one goaltender on a team making a desperate attempt at clinching the playoffs.
Through 49 games played this season, Kuemper is sporting a woeful .892 SV% and a 2.76 GAA. The advanced analytics don’t help either. Kuemper’s goals saved above expected (GSAx) sits at -3.8 on the season.
Since March 1, here’s how Kuemper’s numbers compare to Anton Forsberg:
- Kuemper: GP: 12, SV%: .877, GSAx: -2.77
- Forsberg: GP: 6, SV%: .903, GSAx: 2.77
It’s not like Forsberg was given lesser opponents either. He faced the Colorado Avalanche, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, and provided relief against the Utah Mammoth when Kuemper was pulled after allowing five goals on 16 shots.
Aside from the numbers, it’s the way Kuemper looks in the net and the way he plays certain situations that aren’t only odd and out of the ordinary, but make it more concerning, given the fact that this group could be playing a seven-game series in the quest for Lord Stanley in just a couple of weeks.
Kuemper doesn’t look confident in the net. He’s overcommitting on plays that take him out of position to the point where he can’t get back in the play. Whether it’s going down too early, not tracking the puck and losing sight of it, or biting way too hard on a player’s move that he can’t recover, Kuemper looks like anything but a goaltender who is in his 13th NHL season.
Interim head coach D.J Smith said before their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs that he was still their guy moving forward, despite his rough start against the Nashville Predators the game before, which forced the Kings to chase for the entirety of the game.
“He’s our guy…he’s played the big games, and he’s going to be the guy to push us over,” Smith said.
Fast forward a few hours, after the Kings pulled out two points in a gongshow of a game against the Maple Leafs that saw Kuemper allow six goals on 20 shots, and Smith couldn’t offer that same confident answer about whether he would still be their go-to guy.
The Kings did everything wrong defensively against the Maple Leafs, and not in the slightest bit did they make it easy for Kuemper. But the fact of the matter is that Kuemper didn’t make one big save for his team the entire game. All the Kings needed was one big save, and they wouldn’t have needed to go to overtime for the 31st time this season.
“Well, I’m going to talk to Buck (Mike Buckely), I’m going to talk to the management, I’m going to talk to everyone involved and see where we’re going with our lineup in general, not just him (Kuemper),” Smith said. “There has to be accountability for how you play, and if there’s somebody who can come in and help us, we’re going to do it.”
The Kings have had a lot of struggles this season, but the one thing they can’t afford right now is for their goaltending to go off the rails. Kuemper’s been given every opportunity to get out of whatever kind of funk he’s in, but the fact is that there’s no more time to give.
With six games remaining, and the desperate need to pick up points every night, that “somebody” needs to be Forsberg. The Kings can no longer rely on Kuemper to backstop them to a playoff spot, and we’re at a point where playing him has been detrimental. Forsberg has outperformed Kuemper, and he’s going to need to be allowed to continue to do so if the Kings want a shot at making the playoffs.
The Kings need to put their best foot forward, and right now that starts with Forsberg in between the pipes.
