Darcy Kuemper’s case to be the Kings’ No. 1 took a hit Tuesday night, and it came at exactly the wrong time.
The veteran goaltender was in position to use a preseason outing against the Utah Mammoth to show Peter Laviolette he should be the one handling the bulk of the work in Los Angeles. Instead, Kuemper allowed five goals on 34 shots in a 6-3 loss at Crypto.com Arena, turning a chance to build momentum into another uneasy moment for the Kings’ crease.
That kind of outing lands hard for a goalie with Kuemper’s résumé. He has won a Stanley Cup and finished as a Vezina Trophy finalist during the 2024-25 season, but last year was not a smooth ride.
After a strong start, injuries piled up - upper-body and lower-body issues - and his game slipped from there. The decline eventually pushed him out of the starting role and into a backup situation behind Anton Forsberg, who started every game of Los Angeles’ first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Kings were swept.
Tuesday was supposed to offer a fresh start to that conversation.
With a new season approaching and Laviolette now running the bench, Kuemper had a clean opportunity to remind the organization what he can still be. It didn’t happen. The performance only added more uncertainty to a competition that already had plenty of it.
Laviolette’s track record suggests he likes a clear lead guy in net. In his final season with the New York Rangers in 2024-25, Igor Shesterkin made 61 starts in 82 regular-season games. And in Laviolette’s last season with the Washington Capitals in 2022-23, Kuemper was the main man, starting 57 times and bouncing back after three separate injuries.
That past connection could matter as the Kings sort through their options.
But the reality after Tuesday is simple: this was the kind of night Kuemper could not afford. If he wants to convince Laviolette and the Kings that he deserves the heavier workload, he’s going to need a much cleaner showing the next time he gets into the crease - if he gets another preseason shot at all before opening night.
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The Kings enter the 2026-27 season with a handful of individual markers worth keeping an eye on, and the list says plenty about the range of talent on the roster. Quinton Byfield is closing in on 200 career points, Erik Haula is edging toward 400, Adrian Kempe is within reach of 500, and Darcy Kuemper is getting close to 500 games played, giving the season a few built-in checkpoints beyond the standings race.
Kevin Fiala is also sitting on the doorstep of a major playmaking milestone, while Corey Perry remains on a path that would place him among the leagues most accomplished scorers. For a Kings team trying to build on what it already has, those numbers matter because they reflect both production and staying power, and they give fans a reason to track the season with more than wins and losses in mind. [Read more 🡒]
Erik Portillo Is Stuck In The Kings Toughest Roster Crunch
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Ken Holland has already acknowledged how difficult it is to balance playing time across the depth chart, and Portillo is still battling for a roster spot as camp moves along. For the Kings, the bigger question is not whether they have enough names in net, but how they sort out who actually gets the most meaningful work when all of those goalies are trying to stay sharp and stay in the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Roster Battle Gets More Urgent In Preseason Trip To Anaheim
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Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield have been among the more visible standouts, while Artemi Panarin and Brandt Clarke have also given the staff reasons to keep sorting through combinations. Even with those positives, the lineup decisions remain very much in flux, and the Kings still have one more preseason chance to sort out where everyone fits before the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]