If there's one person to thank for the close playoff push in the latter half of the 2025-26 season, it'll have to be Justus Annunen.
Annunen was more than just a backup goalie, he was a pillar to the Nashville Predators back end. He started 23 games and played in 28, winning a career-high 10 games. He posted the team's first shutout in over a year, and it wasn't a quiet scoring game. Annunen stopped 43 shots in 60 minutes of play, surpassing his previous season high of 39.
On top of seeing success in the regular season, Annunen saw plenty in the 2026 Men's World Championship, being a driving factor in Team Finland's gold medal finish. He surprised many, and now some are questioning who the real starting goalie is for Nashville heading into next season.
It's a long time coming for Annunen
The Predators acquired Annunen in a time of desperation. Annunen was dealt to Nashville by the Colorado Avalanche two months into the 2024-25 season, along with a 2025 6th, in exchange for goalie Scott Wedgewood. At the time, both netminders struggled to live up to expectations. Wedgewood wasn't the reliable backup that Nashville had hoped for, and Annunen wasn't matching his performance from the season prior.
Wedgewood immediately made an impact with the Avalanche, stopping all 22 shots in his debut. He later posted a shutout two games later and would finish the season with a .917 SV% and 1.99 GAA and his second shutout of the season.
Annunen, on the other hand, struggled to say the least. He opened strong with Nashville, failing to go below .917 SV% in his first three starts, but he would soon succumb to the mess of the Preds lineup. He finished the season with an .888 SV% and 3.17 GAA, a decent dropoff from the season prior in Colorado, a .928 SV% and 2.25 GAA.
When looking at the team in front of him, it'll be pretty harsh to say he's the sole reason the numbers were low. After all, the Predators had the sixth highest goals-against-per-game in the league with 3.34. The defense wasn't enough to support Annunen in net and as a result, he couldn't perform like he usually would under a strong defense like Colorado.
Opening up this season, things looked like the same-old ordeal with Annunen. In his first six starts, he averaged a .857 SV% and 3.83 GAA. However, things turned around shortly after the new year. In his first start of 2026, Annunen stopped 30 of 32 shots faced against the Washington Capitals.
He would continue this momentum all the way to the end of the season where he would post a .907 SV%, 2.68 GAA and one shutout. It was his first shutout since March 2024, and the team's first since January 2025.
"I thought Big Juice was outstanding," Preds head coach Andrew Brunette said shortly after the shutout. "We've had a lot of [shutouts] that slipped away and they weren't going to let this one go for Big Juice. He's been put in real tough scenarios. I think they all wanted to get him a shutout."Nashville Predators YT
Annunen surprised many in the Men's World Championship
His performance continued on beyond the regular season, as he was named to Finland's roster as starting goalie for the Men's World Championship in Switzerland.
In eight tournament games, Annunen posted a .934 SV% and 1.47 GAA including a 22-save shutout in the gold medal game. He ranked fifth in save percentage and third in goals-against-average. He also ranked third in minutes played with 80.3%. Big Juice played a huge role in Finland's dominance in the tournament, finishing 9-0-0-1 in the standings.
Now with his confidence at an all-time high, we could expect Annunen to continue his numbers heading into next season. In a media conference, newly hired General Manager Chris MacFarland, former Avalanche GM, handed praise to Annunen and the goaltending department after seeing what he ended up becoming after he traded him to Nashville.
"I'm not surprised that Justus came here and found his game with his commitment and work" MacFarland said. "I think the goaltending department here has done some really good work and it allowed him to develop, stretch his wings a little bit."Nashville Predators YT
Annunen re-signed with Nashville for two more years in January, and both the Preds and their fans should be looking forward to what we'll see in those two years. Annunen is only in the opening stages of his revival. With new management and a new vision drawn out for the roster, it wouldn't be surprising if we continue to see Annunen live up to the hype in the coming seasons.
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