Justus Annunen was supposed to be Alexandar Georgiev’s low-cost backup goalie all year.
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He was supposed to continue his development and become a full-time NHL goalie.
He was expected to be the starting goalie of the future — a homegrown talent and attached to the Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar era for the remainder of the prime years of their career.
But that’s all gone.
Annunen was shipped off to the Nashville Predators on Saturday. Colorado traded a young, promising goalie with hopes of finding his way for a goalie in Scott Wedgewood, who’s unlikely to ever be anything more than he is. But he provides stability as a backup, something the team lacked with Annunen.
But what changed? Why did the Avs feel this was the time to let him go?
Annunen is 6-4-0 this season. He started nine of the Avs’ 24 games and stabilized their backup position last year after Pavel Francouz’s career suddenly ended and Ivan Prosvetov struggled. But the reality of the soon-to-be 25-year old is, his ceiling wasn’t as high as the team had hoped. And his bad games are far worse than the average goalie — especially when he faces playoff caliber teams.
In his nine starts, Annunen won 6-of-9. But he was sheltered. Each of his six victories came against teams that missed the playoffs last year: The Philadelphia Flyers, Seattle Kraken (twice), Ottawa Senators, Utah Hockey Club, and the San Jose Sharks. The only three times he started against teams that competed in the postseason last year, he lost. And in two of the games, he was chased from the crease.
The cherry on top was his performance last Monday in his final game. Annunen surrendered five goals on 16 shots against Tampa Bay in an 8-2 loss. He struggled in the first period and he wasn’t any better in the third when he was brought back in. He also gave up three goals on six shots against the Washington Capitals. The third loss came to his new club, the Predators, where he made 21 saves on 24 shots (.875 save percentage). Simply put, he lost the trust of the coaching staff and the organization altogether.
The other big issue with Annunen was his inability to step in and help in relief. Last year he saved the day in a relief appearance in the spring. But in the first two games, Annunen stepped in against the Vegas Golden Knights and Columbus Blue Jackets in two winnable games and was abysmal both times.
The loss to Vegas could be excused. But when he entered the game vs Columbus in the home opener, the Avalanche trailed 3-1. They quickly scored two goals before he even faced a shot and made it 3-3. But then Annunen let in a goal on the first shot he faced and a second one on short order. The Avs were right back to trailing by two goals and couldn’t muster another comeback.
With the way things have gone with Georgiev this season, general manager Chris MacFarland needed to make a move. He opted to acquire a steady backup instead of a tandem goalie, which makes me think more might be coming. But that’s a conversation for closer to the trade deadline.
The reality settled in with Annunen that he just isn’t as good as the team initially thought he was. And at his current age, and where the Avs are, the team couldn’t afford to be any more patient with his development. Even if Annunen is a late bloomer, it was time for a change.
Casey Mittelstadt
The struggles Casey Mittelstadt has endured over the past month are mystifying to say the least. Colorado’s No. 2 center stormed out of the gate with an exceptional start to his season. With all the injuries and suspensions early in the year, Mittelstadt was usually given the sort end of the stick. No. 1 center Nathan MacKinnon often got to play with whatever healthy top wingers were available. Mittelstadt mostly found himself flanked by rookies Nikolai Kovalenko and Calum Ritchie, or depth forwards like Logan O’Connor, Miles Wood, and Joel Kiviranta.
Despite all of that, he had 13 points in 10 games. Head coach Jared Bednar said at the time that he was excited for the prospect of getting healthy and having Mittelstadt play with better wingers. He was expecting to see him take another step. But the opposite happened.
In November, Mittelstadt finished with just five points in 15 games and none of them came at 5-on-5. He’s also been completely held off the scoresheet for the past seven games. During this stretch, the Avs have welcomed back Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, and Jonathan Drouin. The latter has since been re-injured. But Mittelstadt has spent a lot of time with better forwards and isn’t producing.
“He’s gotta improve again. I watch his game and he’s effective when he’s skating and churning his legs,” Bednar said of Mittelstadt. “I don’t know if it’s an energy thing from him recently, he seems to be feeling okay. He’s such a creative guy and a great playmaker and passer.
“We’ve talked about him getting a shot mentality a little bit more. But it starts with him moving his legs and challenging defenders with his legs and with his skating.”
Mix in the rut MacKinnon is currently mired in, and the Avalanche aren’t getting production from either of their top centers. I’m sure MacKinnon will find his way out of the slump relatively soon, but Mittelstadt is a crucial piece of this team and Colorado is going to need him to be better to get through this road swing and back into a playoff spot. Especially if the injuries continue to pile on.
