The Nashville Predators are a team that is in flux, while simultaneously not being in flux currently.
They made a minor move this week with the contract extension of Justus Annunen. Now, giving your backup goalie a new contract and not letting him sweat is a nice thing to do. General Manager Barry Trotz likely understands how to keep his locker room and his players happy, but it also could be a subtle message to the league.
Normally, signing Annunen isn't a lead story even on a slow day. Getting your backup goalie secured is small potatoes. Annunen is still young enough to develop, but rarely plays and doesn't seem likely to leverage his way into more starts.
Barry Trotz is stuck near the playoff bubble with a lot of trade decisions ahead for Nashville Predators
Really, this seems like a sign that things aren't going to change very much in the future for the Nashville Predators. Juuse Saros is going to be the number 1 goalie for this team for the time being, and he isn't going to be playing any less.
So far, the Predators have played 44 games, and Saros has nabbed 35 of the starts. Annunen has come up with nine and should get his 10th start on a back end of a back-to-back today against the Washington Capitals.
Last season, Saros had 58 starts, and Annunen had 20 (with 4 coming from Scott Wedgewood) which is the least amount that Saros has recorded since he became the primary starter.
However, if the Nashville Predators are going to be in playoff contention, Saros is going to be above the 60-start mark. Then, if Saros is going to be there, then it is likely that producing would be UFA's might get a chance to stay.
Michael Bunting is up to 25 points, and Nick Blankenburg is up to 18 points on the year. Both could be seen as valuable stretch pieces and end up staying. Or they could be signed to team-friendly extensions, as Barry Trotz has shown he's willing to do in the past.
Two recipients of those extensions, Cole Smith and Michael McCarron, are now coming to the end of those contracts. It is very unlikely they'll reach the offensive highs that helped earn them those deals, but at the very least, they still have roles on the team. They might not be deemed expendable.
Erik Haula is in the middle of an offensive resurgence that has him in line to put up his best season in a decade. He would be a useful pending UFA chip, but now he might be too much to part with if the Predators have a shot. Or maybe he could end up staying in Nashville longer than just one year this time around.
Annunen is the first domino to fall on what could end up being a familiar pattern set up by Barry Trotz. With a fleet of pending UFAs, look for him to favor getting more extensions done soon and possibly taking himself out of the trade market. That and expect Juuse Saros to start as many games as he is physically able to for the next two and a half seasons as long as Barry is in charge.