Darcy Kuemper reflects on first year in Washington
Darcy Kuemper reflects on first year in Washington originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
In the hopes of solidifying its top goaltending spot for years to come, the Washington Capitals signed Darcy Kuemper to a lucrative five-year contract this past July, the team's biggest move of the offseason.
Kuemper, 32, was coming off his best professional season as the Avalanche's top netminder. He notched a 37-12-4 regular season record and starred in the playoffs en route to Colorado's first Stanley Cup since 2001.
Kuemper's first season in Washington was full of mixed results. His statistics -- 2.87 GAA and .908 SV% -- were solid, but he finished with a 22-26-7 record and the Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
"We had a lot higher expectations for how our season was going to go," Kuemper said during locker room cleanout. "It doesn't feel good that it's done already, but that's how it went."
Many of the Capitals' overall shortcomings were not Kuemper's fault. The team dealt with several injuries throughout the year, specifically on the blue line. Washington's best defenseman, John Carlson, missed three months due to injury, while his line partner Martin Fehervary missed significant time as well. The Capitals had constant shifting throughout the lineup, which made chemistry on the ice hard to build.
Over the first three months of the season, when the Capitals' blue line was largely healthy, Kuemper was one of the NHL's better goaltenders. From October through December, Kuemper boasted a .920 SV% and allowed just 2.35 goals per game. It wasn't a coincidence that the Capitals entered the new year with a 21-13-5 record and firmly in playoff position.
But in the second half of the season, when the injuries on the backend started to pile up, it was apparent that Kuemper needed to be at the top of his game on a nightly basis in order for the Capitals to compete. Oftentimes, he was, bailing out the team's defense.
During a three-game stretch in early March, Kuemper totaled 41, 40 and 40 saves in consecutive tilts, yet Washington won just one of those contests. Late in March, in what was a must-win game against Pittsburgh, Kuemper made 40 saves but a late turnover resulted in the Penguins scoring the game-winning goal with just over a minute remaining.
After going through a year where his team experienced plenty of ups and downs, Kuemper naturally had mixed feelings when asked to assess his own play this season.
"I definitely am disappointed we didn't win more," Kuemper said. "I'm happy with the effort I put in. I feel good about my game being in this position."
Like several of his teammates, Kuemper pointed to the Capitals' overall inconsistency when discussing what he felt went wrong during the second half of the campaign.
"We would look good and feel really good one game and we were never really able to build on that and get it snowballing," he said.
Kuemper plans to spend the first few months of his summer training almost solely in the gym. He doesn't plan on lacing up skates until later in the summer, focusing on building up his strength and speed. The goaltender highlighted that he ended the season healthy, which allows him to have a full offseason of training without having to worry about rehabbing an injury. Kuemper also said he won't be playing for Canada in the IIHF World Championship.
Although the Capitals have an older core, the group left MedStar Capitals IcePlex on April 15 feeling confident they can return to being a contender in 2023-24 and beyond. Kuemper feels that same way, too, even though he's only been in D.C. for one year.
"Absolutely [we can]," Kuemper said. "It was a tough year we had. A lot of injuries, it kind of felt like we were chasing it the whole year. ... I think we showed at times how good this group can be. We've just got to use the humility of how this season went to push us through the summer and make sure we're ready to get back to where we want to be next season."
