Something that doesn't happen very often is two teams in the same division trading goalies early on in the NHL season, but that's exactly what the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche have done by trading Scott Wedgewood and Justus Annunen.
Wedgewood's very brief time in Nashville as backup to Juuse Saros comes to a screeching halt with nothing much to show for it with only four starts and a .878 save percentage.
In return, the Avalanche send their 24-year-old Finnish goalie Annunen to the Predators in addition to a sixth round draft pick in the 2025 Entry Draft.
The Avalanche's most glaring weakness is at goalie with Alexander Georgiev not being able to live up to No.1 goalie duties. They're now hoping that Wedgewood can come in and provide some stability, but this trade baffles me a bit from the Avalanche's standpoint. You trade for a struggling aging backup goalie in Wedgewood and give up on a younger goalie who still has upside potential.
You can consider this trade as a replacement to Yaroslav Askarov who was traded just before the 2024-25 season started. A blemish on General Manager Barry Trotz's record to lose Askarov who could end up blossoming into a top NHL goalie one day.
Either way, this trade doesn't move the needle much for me with either team. I'll give the Predators the slight edge on the trade because at least they're getting younger and who knows if Annunen can eventually hit his stride as a backup to Saros.
Annunen is a former third-round draft pick from 2018 and appeared in 29 games for the Avalanche with a 16-9-2 record, 2.81 GAA and commendable .902 save percentage for a young, inexperienced goalie. He was however struggling through this current season, as is Wedgewood.
The Predators are on the back end of a back-to-back after dropping a gut-wrenching overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning that Saros starter. We'll await confirmation on who the Predators will go with in net against the Minnesota Wild.