Confirmed Trade: [NSH/COL] Scott Wedgewood for Justus Annunen and 2025 6th round pick

[JoeSakic13]

Gotta love how everyone is pointing at Wedgewood’s numbers this season as if the entire Preds lineup (outside of Saros stealing some games and Josi doing Josi things) hasn’t been awful.

Not to say this is going to be a huge upgrade for the Avs by any means, but I feel more comfortable with Wedgewood playing with our lineup than with Annunen.

 

[seafoam]

Loved Barry as a coach, but he just seems so all over the place as a GM.

 

[Soundgarden]

Loved Barry as a coach, but he just seems so all over the place as a GM.

This is a good move, Wedgewood is not NHL caliber.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Avs starting to look like Kyle Dubas is running the show.

As of this moment, Marner is making more than Rantanen.

 

[seafoam]

This is a good move, Wedgewood is not NHL caliber.

I’m glad to hear that, but it doesn’t explain his offseason moves and waiving of Fabbro.

That franchise just seems stuck in second gear.

 

[Lainestache]

another in the long list of mediocre goaltenders for the avs.

i still like the move though i think wedgewood could give the avs steady .900 goaltending which is actually an improvement.

annunen has a pretty good chance at turning into a steady backup.

Considering Nashvilles track record with Finnish goalies i wouldn't be at all surprised to see Annunen pick up the mantle from Saros just as Saros did from Rinne. There's something with Nashville and Finnish goaltenders.

 

[Soundgarden]

I’m glad to hear that, but it doesn’t explain his offseason moves and waiving of Fabbro.

That franchise just seems stuck in second gear.

Yeah that was pretty unforgivable, it's clear to anyone that Fabbro is a top 4 defenseman.

 

[SirKillalot]

Wasn't Annunen scheduled to be the next franchise goalie for the Avs?

 

[PredsV82]

Yeah that was pretty unforgivable, it's clear to anyone that Fabbro is a top 4 defenseman.

Anyone except Andrew Brunette, you mean.

 

[dirtydanglez]

Wasn't Annunen scheduled to be the next franchise goalie for the Avs?

only if georgiev is his only competition.

annunen has decent potential but probably ends up as a backup.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Wasn't Annunen scheduled to be the next franchise goalie for the Avs?

This isn’t Europe where it’s about an “arbeit plan”. Things change. It’s just a pity that AG was the driver of change. Teams frequently have prospects who don’t subscribe to the arbeit plan.

 

[biturbo19]

I personally, do not have a lot of faith that this will be the "answer" to the Avs goaltending issues.

 

[SirKillalot]

This isn’t Europe where it’s about an “arbeit plan”. Things change. It’s just a pity that AG was the driver of change. Teams frequently have prospects who don’t subscribe to the arbeit plan.

No, but a bit early to quit on a guy who had 8-4-1 and .928 last season for the team.

 

[The Tourist]

Known as W3dgwood in Dallas.

One of the nicest guys in the league but yeah. He's on his third team since the end of last season for a reason.

 

[illegitimate]

No, but a bit early to quit on a guy who had 8-4-1 and .928 last season for the team.

mostly sheltered games, the realest of those were against tampa bay (four goals against), devils (four goals against), winnipeg (relief, three goals against) and the oilers resting their top lines for the postseason

 

[shadow1]

Wasn't Annunen scheduled to be the next franchise goalie for the Avs?

No, he was never seen that way.

In the AHL, Annunen has been average; he's a career .905 across 114 games. Last year Pavel Francouz was still under contract, but suffered what ended up being a career-ending injury in pre-season. Rather than turn to Annunen, Colorado claimed Ivan Prosvetov off waivers. Prosvetov is only 10 months older than Annunen, but the Avalanche were quick to gamble on a complete unknown (to the org) rather than give Annunen a chance right out of the gate.

Prosvetov ended up struggling and Annunen finally got the call in the 2nd half of last season. And he was really solid. The only catch is that the Avalanche were super careful with who he started against. Only 2/12 starts by Annunen came against playoff teams, but the asterisk is one of those was Game 82 against Edmonton, which saw McDavid and all of the Oilers stars healthy scratched.

The bottom line is that Annunen was rock solid last year, but it was a talking point all off-season about how he'd fare against tougher competition. Unfortunately, we found out. His calling card last year was not giving up weak goals. This season has been the opposite. His lateral movement is so slow that teams have seemed to figure out they just need to get him moving side to side to beat him. Most fans were hopeful he could hold down the backup spot. But the more he played, the more his weaknesses were exposed.

 

[Master P]

Isn't Wedgwood just Jack Campbell without the self doubt?

 

[Avs44]

Known as W3dgwood in Dallas.

One of the nicest guys in the league but yeah. He's on his third team since the end of last season for a reason.

This is clearly an upgrade on Fourgiev then, sounds like a win to me

 

[BKarchitect]

Isn't Wedgwood just Jack Campbell without the self doubt?

I mean the mental aspect is the reason Georgiev is a wreck right now.

Wedgewood is more of a professional backup than a guy who had peaks and valleys as a starter. I think he was overworked in Dallas last year and has been poor in limited action in Nashville but he’s had some very solid years when you keep his starts in the 20-25 range.

I can see why the Avs would rather have him over Juice but my lack of outrage unlike most Avs fans is based, again, on this being the smaller part of a two-step process to fix the goaltending.

If the Avs can land Gibson or Mrazek and pair one of those guys with Wedgewood - I’ll feel a lot better about having level-headed, veteran professionals in net.

 

[Boss Man Hughes]

This is a good move, Wedgewood is not NHL caliber.

Annunen is worse.

 

[Soundgarden]

Annunen is worse.

We'll see about that.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I mean the mental aspect is the reason Georgiev is a wreck right now.

Wedgewood is more of a professional backup than a guy who had peaks and valleys as a starter. I think he was overworked in Dallas last year and has been poor in limited action in Nashville but he’s had some very solid years when you keep his starts in the 20-25 range.

I can see why the Avs would rather have him over Juice but my lack of outrage unlike most Avs fans is based, again, on this being the smaller part of a two-step process to fix the goaltending.

If the Avs can land Gibson or Mrazek and pair one of those guys with Wedgewood - I’ll feel a lot better about having level-headed, veteran professionals in net.

You might be right. And being a WC team vs an entrenched playoff team dictates this too. But you can’t fault Avs fans for feeling like Georgiev = Compher and Wedgewood = Eller. If Georgiev continues to struggle, you might be right. More is at stake now if they risk missing the playoffs. But Avs fans have seen these half measures before.

 

[Avsfan1921]

Wasn't Annunen scheduled to be the next franchise goalie for the Avs?

If any Avs fan ever declared this, they were high lol!

The Avs have never drafted and graduated a goalie that would pass as a viable starter let alone franchise goalie. That trend is very likely to continue for a long time. Hopefully Nabokov proves me wrong but very doubtful…

 

[BKarchitect]

You might be right. And being a WC team vs an entrenched playoff team dictates this too. But you can’t fault Avs fans for feeling like Georgiev = Compher and Wedgewood = Eller. If Georgiev continues to struggle, you might be right. More is at stake now if they risk missing the playoffs. But Avs fans have seen these half measures before.

Fair, it’s definitely wait and see. If this is the only move, it doesn’t really move the needle. One could legitimately ask if the Avs FO is continuing to coddle Georgiev by grabbing a guy who is purely a backup and not a “threat”.

If the Avs FO sees “fixing Georgiev’s head” as the best way forward…well…we all know how that story ends.

But…in a way, I’m at least relieved they didn’t expend a real asset like a 2nd round pick, for a guy like Vladar, Blackwood or whomever (pick your “he’s talented but never been a proven starter” guy)…because at this point that would basically be unloading the clip for another Georgiev. And two Georgiev’s is really no different than one Georgiev. It’s all just a hope and a prayer that something catches fire at the right time.

This was essentially trading an unproven backup for a proven backup. It leaves open the possibility for an actual improvement. Maybe the more cynical folks will end up being correct and it’s simply Georgiev and Wedgewood. But this at least doesn’t truly impact the ability to make a “real” move. And if you pair Wedgewood with another actual veteran starter…I would at least get it.