Edmonton Oilers Free Agency: Top 3 Goalies Worth Signing
Darcy Kuemper
The biggest fish in the goaltender UFA market is Stanley Cup winner Darcy Kuemper. He is the top option in my opinion for the Edmonton Oilers in my opinion. Ken Holland has a history of bringing in players with a history of winning. Kuemper has a very recent history of winning.
Joe Sakic let all 32 GMs know he’s ready and willing to move Darcy Kuemper’s rights for a late-round pick. Wouldn’t be shocked if that materializes given the scarcity on the goaltending market.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 8, 2022
The Edmonton Oilers missed out on Kuemper last offseason and I think it would be a mistake if they were to miss out on him for a second time. Kuemper was able to take a Colorado team that had been struggling in the net for the past couple years and take them to league champions.
This is exactly the scenario for the Edmonton Oilers. They have a good offensive team, but they never have had a goalie to trust in the net. The last few season they have had Smith who either plays really good, or plays terrible. If not Smith they had Koskinen who may have played really good, but he never played really bad.
Kuemper gives the Oilers a goalie who has a very constant average over his career has averaged a 0.918 SV%. In his last 4 seasons he has had a SV% of 0.921%(COL), 0.907%(ARI), 0.928%(ARI) and 0.925%(ARI).
The fact that he was able to put up SV% north of 0.920% the majority of time is something the Edmonton Oilers need. If Kuemper can put up a 0.928% with the Arizona Coyotes he can certainly do it with the Edmonton Oilers.
The only issue with Kuemper is he is the best available goalie in this UFA group. Free agency is a place where top players go to get paid. This is the only reason why I think the Edmonton Oilers may look at another option as opposed to Kuemper.
I think Kuemper may be looking at getting more than $6 million. I just don’t think the Edmonton Oilers can afford to do that. Yes they got more than $20 million of cap space, but that cap space also needs to clean up things up front.
If Kuemper is willing to take a bit of a discount then I think the Edmonton Oilers will be a good fit. If he doesn’t I hope that Holland only looks at giving Kuemper big money if he is the only option left on the board.