There's no need to change DE. All you need to do is disable print-manager and manually add printers when needed by opening
http://localhost:631/ in your web browser (don't forget to keep cupsd enabled). In order to disable plasma print-manager do the following:
1) Go to System Settings > Startup and Shutdown > Background Services
2) Disable 'Print Manager' under Startup Services
3) Reboot
BTW it seems CUPS has already been fixed in ports:
https://www.freshports.org/print/cups/
so its just a matter of time until it's available in the latest repo