5 Goalies That Can Save New Jersey Devils Next Season

Darcy Kuemper

Colorado Avalanche GM Joe Sakic has a very busy offseason ahead of him. He has a lot of free agents he has to make a decision on, including Nazem Kadri who’s having a career year. The Avs traded for Darcy Kuemper from the Arizona Coyotes in the offseason, but the results have been varied. He has some dominant performances, like a shutout victory over the Golden Knights on Wednesday. Other times, he lets in a few softies. However, overall, he’s a really good goalie.

This season, Kuemper is 25-5-2 with a .921 save percentage. A lot of that has to do with being on probably the best team in the NHL, but he’s definitely holding his share of the load in net. Kuemper is proving himself as one of the better goalies in the league, and nobody is talking about it because he’s playing for the star-studded Avalanche.

The real issue here is price. How high can the price for Kuemper go? There aren’t many other options on the free agency market that can promise the success that Kuemper can. Will he get into the $8-9 million range? The Devils probably say no to that unless they think he’s a guarantee.

The other issue is age. Kuemper probably wants a contract in the 5-7 year range. The Devils likely aren’t willing to completely give up on Blackwood. However, paying Kuemper this much money likely means they will eventually be forced to trade Blackwood. It seems like an unlikely option at this point, but it’s on the table at this point.