By Anthony Pellegrino @Pellegrinoap50 IceInsider.com Predators All Access Reporter
NASHVILLE--The Predators aquired goaltender Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick last week in exchange for former backup goaltender Scott Wedgewood.
Now tonight, Annunen is expected to make his Nashville Predators debut.
The team is no stranger to Finnish goaltenders. Juuse Saros, Kevin Lankinen, and Pekka Rinne all happen to be from Finland. In fact, Annunen the next Predators Finnish goalie, played for the same U20 team as Rinne: Kärpät in the SM-Liga.
His play earned him a pick from the Colorado Avalanche 64th overall in the 2018 NHL draft.
Annunen, now 24, arrived to North America in the 2020-2021 season playing for the Avalanche AHL affiliate in the Colorado Eagles.
The next three seasons he'd spend time between the NHL and AHL clubs of the Avalanche before becoming a full-time NHL backup this season.
Over the offseason, the young goaltender would sign a two-year, $1.675 Million dollar contract running through the 2025-2026 season. Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland described Annunen as as a “hard-working young goaltender who has earned the opportunity to compete at the NHL level.
Head Coach Jared Bednar expressed his support for him before the season: “Annunen, I got a lot of confidence in this guy."
Since arriving to Nashville, the biggest storyline for the goaltender has been the nickname Scenerio. Much like Juuse Saros, Annunen's first name is quite similar: Justus. Which leads him to the same nickname: Juice. "Well, I think the guys are going to switch that pretty soon,” Annunen smiled when asked on Monday.
“It was an interesting situation,” Saros laughed following Tuesday’s practice, the nickname seemingly still up for grabs.
“We'll see if there's going to be any new nicknames. But at least for the first game, he was the ‘Big Juice' and I was the ‘Little Juice.’ But yeah, we'll see if it changes here,” Saros said.
Andrew Brunette spoke on his initial thoughts of Annunen: "He’s a younger goalie that we feel has potential to develop into an even better goalie than he is now, I don't know if the game plan is going to change all that much."
On his development plan: I think it's more getting our hands on him, getting Benny and Mitch working with him, and just looking at him today, it looked like a pretty good body of work. He’s a big guy, he’s a hard worker - like all Finns are - so I think there's some room there to even be a better goaltender.”
“I feel I'm just starting (my career), and I guess I'm still learning what [it’s like to play in] the NHL,” Annunen explained after his first practice in Nashville.
“I don't have that many games or that much experience here, so I think that's just the biggest thing for now. (But I want to be) able to use my size better and try to be as fast as possible. I talked with (Goaltending Coach Ben Vanderklok), that’s his philosophy, to make the goalies as fast as possible, and that’s what [Saros] is like. I’m trying to get better at that and get to the next level.”
Now tonight, he'll earn his first start with the Predators.
This season, Annunen is 6-4 with a .872 SV% and 3.23 GAA during his time with the Colorado Avalanche. Facing Patrick Laine off his season debut and the Montreal Canadiens won't be an easy task, but Annunen is up for the challenge, and a fresh start with the Predators.
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