Kuemper has arrived.

[HabzSauce]

Ok, but why do goalies tend to have a later peak? Reaction time and flexibility are at their best when younger- is it just because goalies make no sense? I’d think athleticism trumps experience with that position, but obviously somethin else is going on. Explain.

I think it's mental maturity. More confidence on a consistent basis

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Good for Darcy. Always liked him and wanted it to work out better for him in DC. I wish we had gotten him three seasons before we actually did, he could have made a real difference over Samsonov and Vanecek.

 

[John Price]

we chased him out last season and got another goalie who's been pretty hot. plus pld has fit in. a trade that worked for both sides.

 

[Foppberg]

I mean he's always been pretty good, a few hiccup seasons and playing on a shit Caps team doesn't help, but when healthy he's good. Great even.

 

[57special]

I mean he's always been pretty good, a few hiccup seasons and playing on a shit Caps team doesn't help, but when healthy he's good. Great even.

Heh?

 

[Nogatco Rd]

This is how I will always think of Kuemper on the Avs during the cup run thanks to @Filthy Dangles

View attachment 954663

Seems more fitting for the Rangers tbh

 

[Foppberg]

Heh?

Hah?

 

[Misery74]

He was absolutely awful here in Washington. Cannot believe how well he had played. Good for LA.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

I mean he's always been pretty good, a few hiccup seasons and playing on a shit Caps team doesn't help, but when healthy he's good. Great even.

Those Caps teams were below average, but Kuemper just didn’t have it when he was with Washington.

Last year he was the 3rd worst goalie in the league by save percentage (.890/3.31) while his tandem partner Lindgren posted a .911/2.67, despite getting the tougher starts for most of the year.

Glad he’s bounced back, trade has worked out nicely for both teams for sure.

 

[ToDavid]

Goalies peaks are 30 to 45 (The premier ones)

I feel like this is a bit of a self-fullfilling comment because you can just define the premier goalies as the ones who had extremely long careers. The greats are the greats because they had unique careers.

Look at the Vezina trophy post-Brodeaur, the vast majority of winners are in their 20s. Most of what would be considered the top goalies in the cap era peaked in their late 20s.

 

[Oogie Boogie]

Arrived...... lmao

 

[zappa4ever]

As a Caps fan am I supposed to shit on him like so many LAK fans do with PLDubois?

Confused

 

[um]

He was absolutely awful here in Washington. Cannot believe how well he had played. Good for LA.

For one season, he was good the season before.

I'm not surprised he's doing well. He's been a good player way more than a bad one. The same goes for PLD.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Ok, but why do goalies tend to have a later peak? Reaction time and flexibility are at their best when younger- is it just because goalies make no sense? I’d think athleticism trumps experience with that position, but obviously somethin else is going on. Explain.

My thought is it's because a huge part of goaltending at the highest levels is mental. It's not enough to be super quick and flexible if you're a little out of position because you didn't read the play correctly. Or if you get a little rattled every time you give up a goal. I'm not sure if it's experience or physical/emotional maturity or what, but it takes most guys some time to be able to avoid those mental lapses that can lead to weak goals. Just 1 weak goal every 100 shots (~3 games) is a .010 difference in SV%, which is currently the difference between 4th best in the NHL and 18th best. Much worse than that, and the NHL probably won't have much use for you.

The flip side of that is that a lot of the guys who do actually figure out the mental game also tend to start breaking down physically starting around 33, and their play starts to decline. Obviously, that's not always the case and older guys can still be very effective, but often enough that it's a gamble to pin your hopes on a goalie over about 33. These ages come from a study done on NHL goaltending, that I unfortunately can't currently find.

 

[banks]

Kuemper has "arrived" two or three times in his career already. But he keeps getting hurt and can't keep his mojo going.

I was a fan when he was with the Wild and then the Coyotes. But I don't know if he'll ever have sustained success when he's so oft injured.

 

[Romang67]

Add Tim Thomas to that list as another famous example. I definitely remember these elite goalies playing well late into their career, I’m just wondering if there’s a comprehensive study done on all goalies that can peg down a specific peak goalie year.

In any case, it does seem to be a thing. And I don’t think your theory of mindset is silly at all. It does make a lot of sense cause the position can be so mental. So if a younger goalie has a bad game that can snowball into a bad month or worse. Whereas the experienced guys have seen it and been through it, so they can manage the ups and downs better.

It's not a thing. Every goalie who played well into his late 30s and even 40s peaked long before that.

How well do goalies age? A look at a goalie aging curve.

A few weeks back, I unveiled Hockey Marcels: an extremely simplistic system for projecting goalies performance going forward, utilizing just the last four years of a goalies’ play to d…

hockey-graphs.com

Goalies peak during their athletic peak, just as all other hockey players.

 

[nturn06]

Would love to see this guy help the Kings make a deep playoff run. Still wish the Avs would have kept him, would have saved us so many headaches. Love the goalie! 33 save SO, awesome night.

I think that after he played 18 half decent games it time to put him into the HHOF.

 

[Little Psycho]

Can’t wait for the annual kings oilers matchup lol.

Don’t even. With Vegas looking hot for first place and Vancouver losing Hughs, it feels inevitable.

The the Kopitar thread and now Kuemper, leave our old guys alone!

 

[TMLeafer]

So..can we still add him to the 4 Nations squad?

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

As a Caps fan am I supposed to shit on him like so many LAK fans do with PLDubois?

Confused

lol acting like caps fans haven't been absolutely dumping on him all year since the moment it was announced he was traded, come on

TLDR yes, yes you are

 

[stephenball]

Sometimes players just don’t work out with teams for one reason or another. Good on the Kings and the Caps for swapping players in that situation and both coming out happy. Always good to see a win-win deal (when it’s favoring my team and a team that isn’t a rival of course).

 

[Khelandros]

Man, if only there was an award that he could be given to let everyone know that he has arrived. Guess this will have to do,

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Kuemper Fi

OOAH

 

[blankall]

I think it's mental maturity. More confidence on a consistent basis

This is definitely a thing. Goalies certainly, on average, peak later than forwards (who are at their peak 24-25). That being said, post 35 things slow down for everyone. The occasional goalie has the mental IQ to play beyond 35, but eventually their hips and knees are going to say no.

Typically they'll be about a half dozen goalies who are 35+ still playing every year, but many will be relegated to a back up role. Fleury is still playing at 40, but he's not as good nor playing as many games he was 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[bland]

The Kings commitment to team defense helps goalies out. Talbot looked outstanding at times last year as well, same for Rittich and Copley for stretches.