We have a goalie trade to analyze. Two struggling teams were opting to swap their backup netminders on Saturday. The Colorado Avalanche were sending Finnish puckstopper Justus Annunen to the Nashville Predators in exchange for journey American backup Scott Wedgewood. Colorado was sweetening the deal with a 2025 sixth round NHL entry draft selection.
So what does it all mean?
Well, first of all from Colorado’s standpoint, it’s a strong indication of the concern they are having regarding the inconsistent performance this season from No. 1 goalie Alexandar Georgiev. The fellow who’s led or shared the NHL lead in wins over each of the past two seasons hasn’t proven capable of finding any level of steadiness to his game.
In his most recent start on Friday, Georgiev was stopping 19 of 23 shots in a 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars. For the season he’s 7-6-0 with a 3.33 GAA and an .872 save percentage. A recent four-game winning streak was offering hope that Georgiev had found his game. Now it appears to have been nothing more than a mirage. Three of his last four appearances were not classified as quality starts.
For his part, Annunen has never been displaying the notion that he’ll ever become an NHL regular. In what would prove to be his farewell start for the Avs, Annunen was chased Monday in Tampa Bay after allowing five goals on 16 shots. He was hooked in two of his last three starts for the Avalanche. In 11 games this season, Annunen is 6-4-0 with a 3.22 GAA and an .872 save percentage.
The Predators are clearly hoping that at 24, Annunen still has growing to do in terms of maturity and consistency at the NHL level. From Colorado’s point of view, Wedgewood is giving them a much more experienced No. 2 man to turn to if Georgiev is unable to shake his inconsistent form.
At 32, he’s spent seven seasons in the NHL, but the Avalanche will be Wedgewood’s fifth team. He was appearing in a career-high 32 games last season with the Dallas Stars. However, Wedgewood’s .899 save percentage wasn’t inspiring any suggestion that he can be a team’s go-to goalie. He’s 1-2-1 with an .878 save percentage and 3.69 GAA in five games for the Predators this season.