By Pierre LeBrun, Eric Stephens and Alex Andrejev
The Los Angeles Kings are sending center Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper in a one-for-one trade, the teams announced Wednesday. No salary is retained on either side of the deal, per league sources.
“This acquisition brings in a talented 25-year-old with immense potential to become a top-tier center in the NHL,” said Capitals GM Brian MacLellan in a statement. “With his size, exceptional skating, and high hockey IQ, we are confident he will thrive in our organization with increased responsibility and opportunity.”
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Dubois, 25, notched 40 points (16 goals and 24 assists) through 82 games with Los Angeles this past season, his first with the franchise.
Kuemper, 34, posted a .890 save percentage through 33 games, including 30 starts, during the 2023-24 season with Washington.
The Kings are sending Pierre-Luc Dubois to Washington in exchange for Darcy Kuemper, per @PierreVLeBrun.
No salary is being retained on either side of the deal. pic.twitter.com/JPMHRdRmKj
— The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) June 19, 2024
Why did the Kings make the move?
Well, it’s an admittance of a major error on general manager Rob Blake’s part given his acquisition of Dubois in the first place — for three regular forwards that included notables in Gabriel Vilardi and Alex Iafallo, who immediately helped the Winnipeg Jets to the playoffs — and the fact that the mercurial center performed poorly under big expectations during his first and only L.A. season.
But Blake also managed to offload the rest of the Dubois deal that was originally eight years and $68 million before the full no-move clause portion of his contract kicked in and addressed the goaltending position that was necessary as he only had veteran backup David Rittich under contract for 2024-25. Blake also managed to pick up $3.25 million in cap space with the stunning trade.
The added room figures to be handy for Blake, whether with re-signing pending RFA Quinton Byfield or even retaining UFA defenseman Matt Roy. It could give the Kings flexibility in terms of other moves to improve their roster, which has come up short in three straight first-round losses to Edmonton. — Eric Stephens, Kings staff writer
Is Kuemper the answer for the Kings in the net?
Time and performance will truly tell, of course, but Kuemper isn’t going to move the needle like Linus Ullmark would have done, or even someone like Juuse Saros or Jacob Markström (who was dealt to New Jersey on a newsworthy Wednesday). The 34-year-old Kuemper lost his starting job to Charlie Lindgren in Washington. That doesn’t look great for a Kings’ club trying to erase playoff failure as franchise bookends Anže Kopitar and Drew Doughty seek one more shot at postseason glory.
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One can certainly argue whether Kuemper is even an upgrade over Cam Talbot, another well-traveled veteran who did well as a low-cost stopgap option. But there is a history between Kuemper and the Kings. Blake had him in his first season as GM six years ago and Kuemper put up an impressive 10-1-3/2.10/.932 slash line over 15 starts before trading him to Arizona in that same 2017-18 season.
It looks like Blake is betting on the Kings’ track record of rehabilitating goalies who have struggled or even lost their way. The structured defense-first team assisted Talbot and Rittich in having the third-best goals-against average (2.56), bested only by Florida and Winnipeg. Kuemper had a bad 2023-24 but was much better in his first season with Washington and backstopped Colorado to the 2022 Stanley Cup. — Stephens
Required reading
- Fixing every NHL team’s biggest draft error: Kucherov to Flames? Bergeron to Kings?
- L.A. Kings goalie options: 10 options to solidify the position this summer
(Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)