The Arizona Coyotes have traded goaltender Darcy Kuemper to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 2022 first-round pick, a 2024 conditional third-round pick and defenseman Connor Timmins, the team announced Wednesday.
Arizona Sports‘ John Gambadoro first reported the deal.
For the past three seasons, Kuemper has been one of the best netminders in hockey. He recorded a 2.33 goals against average and a .925 save percentage in the 2018-19 season and followed it up with numbers of 2.22 and .928 in those two categories the following year, respectively. All four of those outputs by Kuemper ranked in at least the top-seven leaguewide. He received votes for the Vezina Trophy both seasons, the award for the NHL’s top goaltender.
Last season in 27 starts, Kuemper allowed 2.57 goals per game and had his save percentage dip to .907 while dealing with injuries.
Kuemper is entering the 2021-22 season on an expiring contract.
Timmins, 22, recorded seven points (all assists) in 31 games last season for Colorado. He was picked by the Avalanche in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft with the 32nd overall selection.
Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong has been busy this offseason. Arizona has executed numerous trades, including shipping out captain and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the Vancouver Canucks on the day of the NHL Draft.