Kings, Capitals each enjoying results of Kuemper-Dubois trade

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Darcy Kuemper and Pierre-Luc Dubois got the opportunities they were hoping for and have made the most of them.

The Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals got what they wanted too.

Kuemper has helped solidify the Kings’ goaltending with his experience and calm demeanor. Dubois has been the skilled, two-way center with size (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) the Capitals were seeking to strengthen the top of their lineup, forming a formidable 1-2 punch up the middle with Dylan Strome.

So, six months later, the trade that sent Kuemper to Los Angeles for Dubois appears to have been a win-win for everyone.

“Well, I haven’t really put a lot of thought into it, but both teams are playing well,” Kuemper told NHL.com. “So, I guess if you look at it from that standpoint, it worked out for everybody.”

Kuemper started for the Kings in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday, so he’s not expected to start when Los Angeles (19-9-5) visits Washington (22-8-2) on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; FDSNW, MNMT). Dubois will be in the lineup for the Capitals, though, in the first game between the teams since the trade on June 19.

Dubois would rather focus on the present, saying his one season with the Kings “is in the past,” but acknowledged the change of scenery has served him well.

“It feels like home here,” Dubois told NHL.com. “It just feels natural. It feels like I’m asked to do a job that I know that I can do. … I just have to be myself with the guys in the room, with the staff, the equipment guys, everybody. It just feels like I just have to show up to the rink every day and be myself, and that’s good enough.”

The implication is that wasn’t always the case for Dubois last season with Los Angeles, which acquired him in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on June 27, 2023, and immediately signed him to an eight-year, $68 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value). Playing mostly in a third-line role, the 26-year-old had 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) while averaging 15:42 of ice time in 82 games. That was a drop from his NHL career-high 63 points (27 goals, 36 assists) while averaging 18:27 in 73 games with the Jets in 2022-23.

The Capitals have used Dubois, who was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the No. 3 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, to center one of their top two lines, often matching him against opponent’s top lines. He’s thrived with 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) while averaging 16:59 in 32 games.

Coach Spencer Carbery said Dubois’ modest numbers don’t tell the whole story of how the trade has helped Washington, though.

“Finding a player like Pierre-Luc Dubois is not an easy task in the National Hockey League if you’re not drafting in the top five,” Carbery said. “So, to execute that trade and for him to come in as a big centerman that can skate … the other thing that goes unnoticed about him is he’s so smart. Reads and decisions, he’s just a very intuitive player out on the ice, so rarely have to correct him with any of his positioning stuff. It’s just seamless for him. He’s such a smart player.

“So, a player like that for us, now we have Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, it just balances our lineup out.”

Kuemper has similarly filled a need for the Kings and flourished with a fresh start. The 34-year-old signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract ($5.25 million AAV) with the Capitals on July 13, 2022, to be their No. 1 goalie after winning the Stanely Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022 but was pushed out of that role after struggling last season.

Charlie Lindgren started 28 of the Capitals’ 35 games after the break for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game to help them qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the second wild card from the Eastern Conference. Kuemper was 2-3-1 with a 3.62 goals-against average and .866 save percentage in his nine games (seven starts) after the break. He finished the season 13-14-3 with a 3.31 GAA. .890 save percentage and one shutout in 33 games (30 starts).

“I didn’t get to play a whole lot,” Kuemper said. “Charlie was playing well, so it is what is.”

Kuemper said he didn’t ask for a trade, but he welcomed the chance to return to the Kings and play more regularly. He was 10-1-3 with a 2.10 GAA and .932 save percentage in 19 games (15 starts) with Los Angeles during the 2017-18 season.

“It made it a lot easier,” Kuemper said. “I knew some of the guys still and then, obviously, knew the area very well. The facilities and everything like that and all the staff members were pretty much the same, so it made going in a lot different than going to a team that you’re experiencing for the first time, which was really nice.”

Kuemper missed two stints this season with lower-body injuries, during which David Rittich started the bulk of the games for the Kings. But Kuemper has been Los Angeles’ clear No. 1 when healthy; he made 23 saves in Saturday's loss at Nashville and is 8-2-5 with a 2.40 GAA, .911 save percentage and one shutout in 16 games (all starts). He's 4-0-2 with a 1.99 GAA and .924 save percentage in his past six starts.

“He’s been really good,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “I talked about this the other night about our team. I think he fits the description very well. Just solid. Just solid kind of night after night, not too many ups or downs. Just solid, dependable. He’s been a real stabilizing force for us.”

Kuemper has had to adjust again playing in the Western Conference -- the Kings conclude a seven-game, 13-day road trip Sunday -- but he was used to lengthy trips like this from playing most his 13-season NHL career in the West with the Minnesota Wild, Kings, Arizona Coyotes and Avalanche before signing with the Capitals. Otherwise, the transition has been seamless.

“I just really love the group of guys,” Kuemper said. “We all get along really well. It’s a special group and you can see that when we play. It’s just everybody all-in to the team game, and that’s why we’ve had a pretty good start to the season.”

Dubois is equally happy with the Capitals, saying he feels “needed more than wanted,” which may have been what he needed to get back to how he played with the Jets.

“Sometimes we compare apples to oranges, and you can’t,” he said. “The role and the minutes, everything I had in Winnipeg was night-and-day to what I had in L.A. This is more similar to what I had in Winnipeg, and it’s going well again. So, sometimes it’s just right in your face what happened.

“I had a good year my last year in Winnipeg, I had a bad year last year and, it’s still early in the season, but I’m getting back to where I was. I’m the same player. I haven’t changed really in a year.”