The Seattle Kraken agreed to terms with free agent Philipp Grubauer on Wednesday, ending the goalie’s three-year run with the Avalanche.
Grubauer, who reportedly signed off on a six-year deal for $35.4 million ($5.9 million annual cap hit), was a Vezina Trophy finalist for the Avs last season.
The Avalanche moved quickly to replace Grubauer, sending defenseman Conor Timmins, a 2022 first-round pick and 2024 conditional third-round pick to Arizona for veteran netminder Darcy Kuemper, according to a league source.
Also earlier in the day, Avalanche left wing and team captain Gabe Landeskog spoke to the media in a Zoom call.
Landeskog, who signed an eight-year, $56 million contract extension in the 11th hour before free agency Tuesday night, said he never considered signing with Seattle after being unprotected in the expansion draft. The move gave the Kraken exclusive negotiating rights with Landeskog for more than 48 hours.
“I had the feeling I wasn’t going to be protected by the Avs, and to be honest I would have done the same thing. I would have told Joe (Sakic) not to protect me so they could protect someone else,” Landeskog said. “I was able to speak to — or I should say my agent was able to speak to — Seattle, but for me, there wasn’t a whole lot there. Yeah, there were some conversations but I felt pretty good about the position we were in (with the Avs).”
Latest updates for the Avalanche in the 2021 NHL free agency from The Denver Post.
Joining the Avs:
G Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper comes to Colorado in exchange for Timmins, a 2022 first-round pick and 2024 conditional third-round pick, per a league source. Kuemper has spent nine years in the NHL, including parts of the last four seasons with the Coyotes. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound netminder finished in the top eight of Vezina Trophy voting two seasons in a row between 2018-20. He has a career record of 106-83-32 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
D Roland McKeown, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds. He signed a one-year contract as an unrestricted free agent after playing last season in Sweden. McKeown, 25, was a 2014 second-round pick of the Kings who was traded to Carolina in 2015 and has played just 10 NHL games. He served as captain of the Charlotte Checkers in 2019-20 after the club won the Calder Cup as AHL champions in 2018-19
D/F Kurtis MacDermid. The 27-year-old was added Tuesday in trade with Seattle, with Colorado sending the Kraken a 2023 fourth-round draft pick. MacDermid, who was selected from the Los Angeles Kings in last week’s expansion draft, is a 6-foot-5, 233-pound shutdown defenseman and heavyweight enforcer whom Sakic said might play some forward for Colorado. He gives the Avs much-needed size and toughness with a cap hit of $875,000.
Avs GM Joe Sakic on MacDermid: “We have a lot of amazing players with our core guys and we wanted to surround them with a big, hulking (player). He likes to step up and keep guys honest in the neutral zone and, the most important for us is, he’s a great character guy, great in the room and he’s going to stick up for his teammates and that’s something we feel was lacking here in the last couple years. We want to make sure we address that. And I can tell you one thing: Our players are very excited to have him on our club.”
Leaving the Avs:
G Philipp Grubauer. He reportedly signed for six years and $35. 4 million ($5.9 million annual cap hit) with Seattle.
D Conor Timmins. The 32nd overall pick of the 2017 NHL entry draft, Timmins appeared in 33 regular-season games over the past two season with the Avs. He notched seven assists but never scored a goal and is now headed to Arizona as part of a trade for veteran goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
D Patrik Nemeth. The 2021 trade-deadline re-acquisition signed with the New York Rangers, three years, $7.5 million. Nemeth played 13 regular-season games for Colorado last season and all 10 in the playoffs. He was turnover-prone to conclude his second stint with the Avs.
F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. Signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bellemare, a fourth-line center and penalty killer, scored nine goals in each of his two seasons with the Avalanche. But he’s 36 and the Avs have youngers who can step in for less than a $1 million cap hit.
F Joonas Donskoi. He was the Kraken’s selection from the Avalanche in last week’s expansion draft.
F Brandon Saad. He’s still a free agent but Sakic said Wednesday the Avs don’t have the cap space to bring him back.
F Matt Calvert. He has retired from career-ending back and head injuries.
D Ryan Graves. He was traded to the New Jersey Devils on July 15 for forward Mikhail Maltsev and a second-round 2021 draft pick (DU defenseman Sean Behrens).
Avalanche free agent tracker: Colorado trades for Darcy Kuemper after losing Philipp Grubauer to expansion Seattle - The Denver Post
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