Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz announced goaltender Justus Annunen has signed a two-year contract extension with the team on Monday. The contract carries a $2.5 million value and will kick in during the 2026-27 season.
The Finnish goaltender was acquired via trade last season from the Colorado Avalanche and has appeared in 35 games since his acquisition. Last year, in 23 games after joining the team, he posted a 3.17 goals against average and a .888% save percentage with Nashville.
This year has been even more difficult statistically for the 25-year-old with a 3.29 goals against average and a .878% save percentage in just 12 games. Finding a win in only three of those games, there's room for improvement with this new deal.
"I wanted to stay here, and they wanted me to stay here, so that's pretty easy," Annunen said of his new deal via Brooks Bratten.
When first trading for Annunen, Head Coach Andrew Brunette mentioned the goaltending coaches, including Ben Vanderklock, were hopeful big Juice could develop into a better goalie than he already had shown. With 64 career games under his belt and a .892% career save percentage, the team must have seen some positive steps in that development to commit another two years to him.
With this new deal, Annunen will continue to serve in a role as backup while developing behind the franchise's all-star goalie, Saros. The duo has made a decent tandem, and in a tight race for the playoffs this year, Preds fans are hopeful the battery of these two Finnish goalies will be enough to make it to the postseason.