The Colorado Avalanche have acquired veteran netminder Scott Wedgewood in exchange for Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick in 2025, NHL.com confirms.
We have traded Justus Annunen and a 2025 draft pick to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Scott Wedgewood. pic.twitter.com/UXXYvAynB6
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) November 30, 2024
The surprising deal marks the end of Annunen’s tenure in Colorado. Pegged as the heir apparent to the crease in Colorado, Annunen has struggled at times this season. In 11 games this year, he’s got six wins, a 3.23 GAA%, and an .872 SV%.
Unfortunately for Annunen, his fate was sealed in the Avs’ game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Avs were torched 8-2 with Annunen giving up five goals on 16 shots. He looked shaky at best, failing to find his footing in the crease.
For the Avs, the move was an urgent one. The team’s goaltending has struggled this season. However, it seems that Alexandar Georgiev has turned a corner. He’s pulled together a string of strong starts, with Thursday night’s Thanksgiving Showdown being much stronger than the score suggested.
By moving Annunen, the Avs appear to have committed to Georgiev as their starter for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Wedgewood is a reliable backup who can carry the load if needed. He had no shot at starting in Nashville with Juuse Saros being the incumbent starter.
As for Annunen, he’ll get a fresh start in Nashville. He’ll likely ease into the team, predominantly backing up Saros. However, fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Annunen spend some time in the AHL as he looks to push the reset button.
Colorado Avalanche hoping Wedgewood stabilizes the crease
The 32-year-old Wedgewood has been a journeyman in his NHL career. He was a third-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in 2010. However, he played just four games with the Devils before moving on to the Arizona Coyotes. After spending a fair chunk of time in the AHL, Wedgewood returns to New Jersey for parts of two more seasons.
He re-signed with the Coyotes before being traded to the Dallas Stars. Wedgewood spent parts of three seasons as a backup, most recently as the understudy to Jake Oettinger. Wedgewood signed as a free agent with the Nashville Predators this summer.
In five games with the Preds, Wedgewood has four wins, a 3.69 GAA, and an .878 SV%. The numbers may not look impressive. However, they should be taken with a grain of salt as the Predators have been awful this year.
Wedgewood will now likely backup Georgiev, giving coach Jared Bednar an opportunity to deploy Wedgewood against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night, as the Avs play on back-to-back nights. That situation also gives Georgiev a chance to be ready against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday nights.
Fans should expect to see quite a bit of Wedgewood this upcoming week as the Avs play the Sabres on Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and then the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. So, Wedgewood could easily get two starts out of those four games.