Capitals sign goalie Darcy Kuemper to five-year deal
“Super excited for the new opportunity,” Kuemper said Wednesday in a video conference call. “This is a team that can win it. That’s always a lot of fun to be a part of. Really looking forward to getting started. It’s going to be a short summer, but I can’t wait to get down there and meet the guys.”
Colorado could have made an effort to keep Kuemper but opted to go a different direction in net, trading for former New York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev last week. The Avalanche also re-signed several free agents to lucrative deals to keep its core intact.
Kuemper did not disclose how many other teams expressed interest in him but said once he knew Washington was interested, he immediately pictured himself in the District.
“This is where I wanted to go of all the options, and I’m really excited that we were able to get something done,” Kuemper said.
Kuemper said several players in Washington texted him to welcome him. Part of the appeal of the Capitals was a nucleus that has experience winning the Stanley Cup.
“He’s had a lot of good years, a lot of good performances,” Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan said. “Seems like a good person, good character, a good team guy. I think it’s exactly what we needed going into next year.”
Washington also completed its goaltending tandem Wednesday, signing backup goaltender Charlie Lindgren on a three-year, $3.3 million deal. Lindgren, 28, played in five NHL games last season with the St. Louis Blues and went 5-0-0 with a 1.22 goals against average and a .958 save percentage. He spent the majority of the season with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League.
“We liked his performance last year,” MacLellan said. “I know it wasn’t a lot of games, but we think there is some upside there in goal, so we gave them the three-year term because it was competitive for him, and I think there was a lot of teams that were looking at him, and he was coming in at a good number, and he had good performance last year but limited games. We think he can continue to play well.”
The Capitals were on the lookout for not one but two goaltenders through free agency. They traded Vitek Vanecek to New Jersey last week and elected not to extend a qualifying offer to Ilya Samsonov on Monday.
The Samsonov decision came as a bit of a surprise. MacLellan spoke with reporters last week and was adamant that Washington planned to give Samsonov a qualifying offer.
Instead, Samsonov, 25, hit the open market Wednesday and signed a one-year, $1.8 million deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he appears likely to back up Matt…
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