The Nashville Predators have traded Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche for Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick.
The Nashville Predators have traded Scott Wedgewood to the Colorado Avalanche for Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick.
The Colorado Avalanche and the Nashville Predators swapped backup goaltenders in a trade Saturday morning. Scott Wedgewood was traded to Colorado, while Justus Annunen and a 2025 sixth-round pick were sent to Nashville.
GM Chris MacFarland and the Avalanche felt it was time to address their goaltending situation. So far this season, both goalies have struggled to find a rhythm.
Annunen, who served as a backup to Alexandar Georgiev has recorded a .872 save percentage and a 3.23 goals-against average for Colorado. With that, he's won six games and suffered four regulation losses this season.
As for the starter, Georgiev, he's won seven games and has six regulation losses. He has an identical SP to Annunen and a 3.33 GAA. Among goaltenders who have made at least 15 appearances, Georgiev has the worst SP.
Furthermore, the Avalanche have the worst SP in the entire NHL with an average of .871. In addition, they are the team with the third-highest average of goals against per game (3.71.
With this trade, sending 24-year-old Annunen to Nashville for a 32-year-old Wedgewood will give the Avalanche more experience between the pipes. Also, it's a chance for Annunen to be mentored by fellow Finnish goalie, Juuse Saros. Not to mention the Predators have a deeper history with Finnish goaltenders going back to Pekka Rinne, who had his jersey retired at Bridgestone Arena in 2022.
Wedgewood was set to start against the Minnesota Wild in Nashville's next game. However, he may have to prepare for a back-to-back for Colorado next weekend.
The veteran netminder is in his eighth NHL season. With this trade, he'll be suiting up for the fifth different team of his career. Before this season, he had a three-year stint with the Dallas Stars. In that time, the team saw two conference finals in consecutive years.
With the Stars, Wegewood put up a .909 SP and 2.87 GAA. While he's had a slow start this season with the Preds, a change of scenery could get his numbers back on track.
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