Finland Will Have Iconic Duo in Saros and Annunen
If there's one thing the Predators are known for, it is their goaltending. With the names of Pekka Rinne, Tomas Vokoun, and of course Juuse Saros, teams should expect a tough time getting pucks past Nashville. The Predators tend to use the power of Finland in net to keep the pucks out. Ever since Rinne—excluding David Rittich—we've always had two Finnish goaltenders. Kevin Lankinen was Saros' righthand man for two years and Annunen has done the same.
The combination of Saros and Annunen will not only bring skill, but team chemistry. Goaltenders are the last line of defense and having both of your goalies in the same link, there will be nothing but positivity. There is also the potential for the nomination of Lankinen in the near future, but we'll just have to wait to see if we can bring together the Finnish trio.
On the stat side, neither goalie is having a decent year. Saros finished the year with a career-worst 0.896 SV% and 2.98 GAA. We shouldn't be too uncomfortable with these stats however. You have to remember that he is playing on the 24-25 Nashville Predators, a team ridiculed with bad defense. Annunen finished the year with a 0.883 SV% and 3.18 GAA in 34 games with both Colorado and Nashville. It should be exciting to see what these guys can do and hopefully bring some hope back to Predators fans.