NHL insider says Avs meeting with player agent on Wednesday, attempting to get pending UFA signed ASAP
As the Leafs have kept things quiet regarding their negotiations with Jack Campbell the Avs appear to have gone the complete opposite route. TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported this morning that Joe Sakic is expected to meet with player agent Ben Hankinson at some point on Wednesday to get talks for an extension under way with pending UFA Darcy Kuemper, another goalie the Leafs were reportedly going to contact this summer if they had been unable to re-sign Campbell.
Kuemper helped guide the Avs to the Stanley Cup posting a 10-3-1 record with an average save percentage of .902. In the regular season he posted a .921 save percentage to go along with a 37-12-4 record in 57 games. Coming off of a 2-year deal that saw him earn $4.5M per season, Kuemper should get a long-term extension in the neighbourhood of $5.5M - $6M per season. Of course, should he hit the open market, he could see even more money thrown at him after skating away with a Stanley Cup in 2021-22.
Sakic will likely want to bring back as much of the band as humanly possible after a sensational regular season and an even better postseason. Unfortunately it may be easier said than done. The Avs currently have 15/23 players signed through next season, and just over $24M in remaining cap space to get the other 8 players locked up to new deals. On top of that, Sakic will have to be cognizant of the fact that both Nathan MacKinnon and Bowen Byram will need new deals next summer.
If Kuemper does elect to remain in Colorado, even if he takes a discount and signs for his same $4.5M, that will leave the Avs with less than $19M to fill out the remainder of the roster. With names like Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Valeri Nichushkin and Josh Manson in need of new deals, that $19M is not going to go very far.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 6 | 146 ANSWERS NHL insider says Avs meeting with player agent on Wednesday, attempting to get pending UFA signed ASAP Will Darcy Kuemper re-sign with the Avs this summer, or test free agency? | ||
| He's going to be back with the Avs for another run | 79 | 54.1 % |
| He's going to free agency to chase the bag | 67 | 45.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
