The Los Angeles Kings have traded centre Pierre-Luc Dubois of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec to the Washington Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on Wednesday according to Rogers Sportsnet. For Dubois, the Capitals are his fourth National Hockey League team. He has previously played with the Columbus Blue Jackets (2017 to 2021), the Winnipeg Jets (2021 to 2023), and the Kings (2023-24). For Kuemper, he is returning to the Kings as he initially played for them in the 2017-18 season. Kuemper also played five seasons for the Minnesota Wild from 2012 to 2017, the Arizona Coyotes from 2017 to 2021, the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22, and the Capitals from 2022-24.
This past season Dubois had 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points. He was a -9 with 70 penalty minutes, eight power-play points, four game-winning goals, 146 shots on goal, 440 faceoff wins, 37 blocked shots, 96 hits, 21 takeaways and 30 giveaways. Dubois was supposed to be a top six forward in Los Angeles, but ended up in the bottom six. Dubois’s -9 was the second worst plus/minus on the Kings. Only Alex Lafrerriere was worse at -14.
Kuemper has a Stanley Cup on his resume. He was victorious with the Avalanche in 2022. In 2023-24, he posted a record of 13 wins, 14 regulation losses, and three losses in extra time with one shutout, a goals against average of 3.31 and save percentage of .890. Kuemper’s shutout came in a 2-0 Capitals win over the Anaheim Ducks on January 16.
