This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Darcy Kuemper
Los Angeles Kings Goaltender
A .9211 across 50 games at 34, the best save percentage of any starter in this edition.
| Season | Team | GP | W | L | OTL | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | MIN | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2.08 | 0 | 119 | .916 |
| 2013-14 | MIN | 26 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 60 | 2.43 | 2 | 702 | .914 |
| 2014-15 | MIN | 31 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 68 | 2.60 | 3 | 718 | .905 |
| 2015-16 | MIN | 21 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 43 | 2.43 | 2 | 507 | .915 |
| 2016-17 | MIN | 18 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 55 | 3.13 | 0 | 562 | .902 |
| 2017-18 | LAK/ARI | 29 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 67 | 2.52 | 4 | 833 | .920 |
| 2018-19 | ARI | 55 | 27 | 20 | 8 | 126 | 2.33 | 5 | 1677 | .925 |
| 2019-20 | ARI | 29 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 65 | 2.22 | 2 | 903 | .928 |
| 2020-21 | ARI | 27 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 66 | 2.56 | 2 | 710 | .907 |
| 2021-22 | COL | 57 | 37 | 12 | 4 | 138 | 2.54 | 5 | 1754 | .921 |
| 2022-23 | WSH | 57 | 22 | 26 | 7 | 154 | 2.87 | 5 | 1674 | .908 |
| 2023-24 | WSH | 33 | 13 | 14 | 3 | 103 | 3.31 | 1 | 940 | .890 |
| 2024-25 | LAK | 50 | 31 | 11 | 7 | 100 | 2.02 | 5 | 1267 | .921 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 439 | 209 | 146 | 53 | 1055 | 2.54 | 36 | 12366 | .915 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.
Last Season
31-11-7 in 50 games, .9211 with a 2.02 average and 5 shutouts on 1,267 shots — the best save percentage and the best goals-against average of any goaltender in this edition.
Los Angeles’s goaltending came in 13.1 goals better than the chances faced, 8th in the league, behind a defence that was 1st in the league at suppressing them. Both halves of that are real and the second makes the first easier.
The Physical Game
6-5 and 215, and he plays large and still. He takes away the top of the net without giving up the angles, tracks well through traffic, and does not travel further than the puck requires.
The rebound control is genuinely good and the puck-handling is a real asset behind a club that likes to break out cleanly. What has thinned with age is the recovery on a second play, which is the standard decline for a big positional goaltender.
The Mental Game
Thirteen seasons, five organisations, a Cup in Colorado, and a run of years where a poor season followed a good one with no obvious explanation.
Last season was as settled as he has been. He does not carry a bad goal and does not appear affected by a long layoff, which for a man who has played 50 games once in four years matters.
The Intangibles
A sixth-round pick, a Stanley Cup, and a career that has been genuinely excellent about half the time.
At 35 the projection is 45 games and a save percentage that will fall toward .910 — the .9211 is a top-five number in front of the league’s best defence, and both of those things have to keep being true. The club has no third option worth naming.