Avalanche acquire goaltender Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators

The Avalanche have signed a new goalkeeper, Alexandar Georgiev. They acquired Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators early Saturday morning as a replacement for Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick in 2025.

Wedgewood, 32, was signed by the Preds on July 1 to a two-year contract with an AAV of $1.5 million. He is under contract for the remainder of this season and 2025-26. Annunen, who Colorado drafted in 2018, has the same contract length but makes $837,500. Neither team retained any salary as part of the deal, meaning the Avs increased their salary cap by $662,500 as a result.

The Avalanche have been looking for goaltending help all year after Georgiev and Annunen had a brutal 0-4-0 start to the season and struggled. And this may not be the only move they make before the trade deadline. Both have shown a stable game since then, but head coach Jared Bednar often relied on his regular player Georgiev to bring about a turnaround. Annunen is 6-4-0 in 11 appearances this season but has a paltry .872 save percentage.

His last appearance was on Monday against Tampa Bay, where he conceded three goals on six shots.

Wedgewood is also looking for a fresh start and has played in just five games for Nashville since participating in the revamped offseason. He is 1-2-1 in four starts and has a save percentage of .878. Wedgewood, drafted by New Jersey in 2010, made a career-high 28 starts for the Dallas Stars last season, going 16-7-5 with an .899 save percentage. In the 2022-23 season – his first full season with the Stars – he was 9-8-3 with a career-best save percentage of .915.

Wedgewood has a 49-50-23 record over his career and, like Annunen, was a Black Ace for a Stanley Cup championship team that held the title for the 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Avs host the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena on Saturday, but will not host a morning skate because they played in Dallas the night before.