Darcy Kuemper

Darcy Kuemper knows what playoff hockey feels like from the inside. "Trying harder gets you in trouble," he told InGoal Magazine's Kevin Woodley in a 2026 piece on goaltenders and postseason intensity. "It's about balancing that extra energy of playoffs. I think it's good to have those butterflies and excitement going into those games, and it's just about channeling it the right way. If you start flying around the net and getting out of the play, you get yourself in trouble. But if you use it and channel it to be more focused and be more in the moment, then it can become a huge advantage." ^[1] That perspective comes from experience: Kuemper won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.

Born May 5, 1990, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Kuemper was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round, 11th pick of that round, of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He stands 6'5" and catches left. His path from a sixth-round pick to a Stanley Cup champion covers more than a decade of NHL work across five franchises.

Kuemper made his NHL debut with Minnesota during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, appearing in six games and posting a 2.08 GAA with a .916 save percentage. He built on that foundation over the following three seasons in Minnesota, logging 26 games in 2013-14 (2.43 GAA, .915 Sv%), 31 games in 2014-15 (2.60 GAA, .905 Sv%), and 21 games in 2015-16 (2.43 GAA, .915 Sv%). His final season with the Wild, 2016-17, saw him appear in 18 games with an 8-5 record before his career took a new direction.

Kuemper joined the Arizona Coyotes organization and played 10 games in 2017-18. What followed was a significant stretch of work in the desert. In 2018-19, he appeared in 55 games, posting a 27-20 record with a 2.33 GAA, a .925 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. The shortened 2019-20 season produced some of the best numbers of his career to that point: in 29 games he went 16-11 with a 2.22 GAA and a .928 save percentage. He remained with Arizona through the 2020-21 season, appearing in 27 games and going 10-11 with a 2.56 GAA and a .907 save percentage.

The 2021-22 season marked a turning point. Kuemper signed with the Colorado Avalanche and appeared in 57 games, going 37-12 with a 2.54 GAA, a .921 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. Colorado won the Stanley Cup that spring, giving Kuemper his first championship.

He moved to the Washington Capitals for 2022-23, where he appeared in 57 games and went 22-26 with a 2.87 GAA, a .909 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. His second season in Washington, 2023-24, was limited to 33 games with a 13-14 record, a 3.31 GAA, and a .890 save percentage.

Kuemper then signed with the Los Angeles Kings. His first full season in Los Angeles, 2024-25, was the most productive of his career by several measures: 50 games played, a 31-11 record, a 2.02 GAA, a .922 save percentage, and 5 shutouts. Through the 2025-26 season, he has appeared in 50 games with a 19-14 record, a 2.78 GAA, a .891 save percentage, and 3 shutouts.

Through 489 career NHL regular-season games, Kuemper has 228 wins, 160 losses, 68 overtime losses, a career 2.57 GAA, a .913 save percentage, and 39 shutouts.

InGoal Magazine has covered Darcy Kuemper in one podcast appearance and one InGoal article. Episode 287 of the InGoal Radio podcast featured a conversation between Kevin Woodley and Kuemper, described by the hosts as walking through his journey and providing an update on his return to the Los Angeles Kings — the full interview is available at ^[2]. Kuemper also appears in a 2026 InGoal article by Woodley on how goaltenders manage playoff intensity, in which Kuemper draws on his Cup-winning experience to explain the mental balance the position demands ^[1].