Predators acquire Justus Annunen, sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, from Colorado

Nashville, Tenn. (November 30, 2024) – Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Despite announced today that the team has acquired goaltender Justus Annunen (YOOS-tuhs AN-uh-nehn) and a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft has the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for goaltender Scott Wedgewood.

Annunen, 24 (11/3/00), is 6-4-0 with a 3.23 goals-against average and .872 save percentage in 11 games (nine starts) for the Avalanche this season. He won four consecutive starts from October 20 to 27, including a season-high 26 saves on October 27 against Ottawa; He made at least 25 saves in four of his 11 appearances. The 6-foot, 200-pound goaltender is in his fourth NHL season and has career highs in games played (14), starts (12), wins (8) and shutouts (2) with Colorado in the 2023-24 season ) reached.

Originally selected by Colorado in the third round (64th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft, Annunen made his NHL debut with the Avalanche in December 2021 and has posted a record of 16-9-2 and 2.81 in his 29-year career Goals conceded games (24 starts). Annunen spent the majority of the last three seasons with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, where he went 60-29-19 and won 24 games during the 2021-22 season. Before joining the Eagles at the end of the 2020–21 season, he played parts of four seasons in the Finnish Liiga, posting the league’s best goals against (1.77) and best save percentage (.929) in the 2019–20 season games. At the international level, the Kempele, Finland native won gold at the 2018 U-18 World Championships – where he went 6-0-0 – and played six games in his country’s participation in the 2020 Junior World Championships. He comes from the same hometown as Pekka Rinne.

The Predators now own 10 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft – three in the first round, two in the second and sixth rounds and one in the third, fourth and fifth rounds.

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