The Nashville Predators are still in the thick of a playoff push that is likely to come down to the very last day of the regular season. That alone is normally enough for a team and their fans to worry about, but there has now been an additional and crucial development that will directly affect their chances of locking down that final spot.
Their goaltending situation is in flux, as Justus Annunen has been outstanding recently and threatened Juuse Saros' status as the starter in net. Annunen has played like one of the league's best goaltenders since the Olympic break, while Saros has been around league-average, with Saros only having played five more games since then.
Annunen also started in the Predators' 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, which was his second of the week after a 5-0 shutout in Anaheim -- the team's first in 2025-2026. The starts have been much more balanced recently, sending a real signal that Andrew Brunette is relying on Annunen much more than in the past.
Nashville Predators might have to ride the hot hand in net until proven otherwise
The base stats have been decisively in Annunen's favor since the Olympic break, with his save-percentage and goals-against-average (GAA) being .948 and 1.60 respectively. Saros' numbers, on the other hand, have been .909 and 2.66 respectively, and the surface does not lie when you dig deeper.
In each goaltender's last 10 games, Annunen's Goals Saved Above Expected has been 12.2 compared to Saros' 3.0, with that same metric Per 60 Minutes being 1.242 and .290 respectively. Annunen also has a higher Goals Against Average Better Than Expected with 1.24 compared to 0.29, while his Wins Above Replacement has been superior with 2.04 compared to 0.49.
Annunen also posted better numbers in the context of the following metrics -- Percent Of Expected Goals Saved Above Average, Save Percentage on Unblocked Shots, Save Percentage Above Expected, as well as Low, Medium, and High Danger Unblocked Shot Attempt Save Percentage Above Expected.
There is no denying it, Annunen has been the better goaltender since the Olympic break, and the eye test also confirms it. So now it begs the question -- what do Brunette and the Predators do in the remaining two games of the regular season, as well as in the playoffs if they make then?
One thing can be said for sure -- the decision on who starts on Monday could go a long way towards answering that question. If Annunen starts, then he is, at minimum, in an even split with Saros going forward, and might even have the edge. At this point, it is hard not to argue that he should have it.
The old saying is that you have to ride the hot hand whenever you have a controversy, and Annunen has a firm grip on that these days. Additionally, we now have a three-plus year sample size of inconsistent to lackluster play from Saros even including playoffs, so it would make total sense to give Annunen the nod.
At the very least, even if the Predators make the playoffs and Saros starts Game 1, he should be on a much shorter leash than normal. If he has a downright bad or even slightly below average game, Brunette should be quick to turn to Annunen the next time, and recent evidence suggests he would be.
Of course, it is not a cut and dry answer considering that Saros has been a starter for a long time and Annunen has been a backup. As much as people might roll their eyes at this, the optics of a decision to demote Saros are not just nothing.
Saros is on an expensive contract that still is in year one out of eight, and starting Annunen over him would essentially admit failure on the signing. More significantly, it would leave them with a financial deadweight with no possible way out until and unless Saros were to regain his past form in the future.
These considerations are totally valid, especially because Annunen has never started a playoff game in his career and really has not had a consistently good year until this one. Even for the harsh future implications of benching Saros in favor of Annunen, it would be the right move for the Predators.
Their biggest and only focus from here through the rest of the current season needs to be winning games, and right now, Annunen gives them the best chance to do that. It would be completely unfair to the guys in that locker room to prioritize protecting Saros' contract situation over winning, and might be even more damaging to the team's optics to do so in the midst of the playoff push.
Either decision on who to start has its clear drawbacks, and the Predators might have no choice but to just ride the hot hand in Annunen and hope that Saros can get it back together in the future and somewhat salvage that contract situation, which is currently way less than ideal.