Maybe trading Reider for Kuemper was done after realizing just how much Raanta could be in and out of the lineup
Honestly, Kuemper played in 55 games last year and went 27-20-8. If I have a choice, I keep Kuemper as our long-term goalie. Despite being one year younger, Kuemper has started about 20 more games than Raanta. That should also say something that we are not talking about giving up on an elite player in Raanta, rather that Raanta just hasn't been able to put together quality games due to injury.
Raanta will be a UFA when the expansion draft rolls around. I was hoping that expansion would take place this offseason, because exposing Raanta and sending Seattle a 6th or 7th to get them to take him would be huge. Even then, we can still give them a low-end pick and have them take Raanta. I can't imagine that a guy who is injured as much as he is will break Seattle's cap. Maybe they get him to a 2 year deal for $2.0 - 3.0 M AAV as a backup. If he is hurt or doesn't look good, Seattle only signed him for 2 years to a contract that isn't horrible.
But yeah, if we are giving somewhere between $3.5 - 5.5 M for a goalie in the near future, I would sign up for Kuemper about 80% of the time.