The market for goaltenders is thinning quickly. Cam Ward and Frederik Andersen have new deals, and everyone else being talked about requires a big trade. That’s why it’s not surprising that Minnesota Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher told the Pioneer Press that he’s getting calls about backup netminder Darcy Kuemper.
“Darcy is a player that – I’ll be candid – some teams have asked us about,” Fletcher said. The 26-year-old is firmly planted behind Devan Dubnyk on the team’s depth chart and has been hot and cold throughout his short career. He carried the team at times, and has been a problem at others, contributing to goaltending crises that have struck the team in previous years. One of those ultimately led Fletcher to acquire Dubnyk.
“With our track record of injuries to our goaltenders, I’m a little hesitant to get aggressive in shopping him, is the best way to put it,” Fletcher said. “I also want to be fair to Darcy. He’s been a real good goaltender, and a real good teammate, and clearly the net right now is [Dubnyk’s]. If we have an opportunity to move him and get a fair return, we’ll look at it, but I don’t want to be too aggressive in that regard and leave us short in that position.”
Last season Kuemper grabbed just 21 games, with a .915 save percentage and a .922 even-strength save percentage.