Avalanche News
Avalanche Acquire Goaltender Scott Wedgewood From the Nashville Predators
The Avalanche have brought in a new goalie to play with Alexandar Georgiev. They acquired Scott Wedgewood from the Nashville Predators early Saturday morning for backup Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick in 2025.
Wedgewood, 32, was signed by the Preds on July 1 for two years and carries a $1.5 million AAV. He’s under contract for the rest of this season and 2025-26. Annunen, who Colorado drafted in 2018, has the same contract term but makes $837,500. Neither team retained any salary in the deal, which means the Avs added $662,500 to their salary cap as a result.
The Avalanche have been searching for goaltending help all year after a brutal 0-4-0 start to the season when both Georgiev and Annunen have struggled. And this might not be the only move they make before the trade deadline. Both showed flashes of steady play since then but head coach Jared Bednar often turned to his usual starter in Georgiev to turn things around. Annunen is 6-4-0 in 11 appearances this season but has a paltry .872 save percentage.
His last appearance was against Tampa Bay in relief on Monday where he gave up three goals on six shots.
Also searching for a fresh start, Wedgewood has appeared in just five games for Nashville since being part of their overhauled offseason of moves. He’s 1-2-1 in four starts and carries an .878 save percentage. Drafted in 2010 by New Jersey, Wedgewood made a career-high 28 starts for the Dallas Stars last season and went 16-7-5 with an .899 save percentage. In 2022-23 — his first full season with the Stars — he was 9-8-3 with a career-best .915 save percentage.
Wedgewood is 49-50-23 over his career and like Annunen, was a “Black Ace” for a Stanley Cup championship team, carrying the title for the 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Avs hosts the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena on Saturday but will not have a morning skate because they played the prior night in Dallas.
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Avalanche Acquire Goaltender Scott Wedgewood From the Nashville Predators
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So let me get this straight: the front office traded for a goalie that’s 8 years older, more expensive, has worse stats this season, and the team included a 6th round pick to get it done? And people are okay with that? Am I missing something? I’ll reserve judgment until we actually see him in the crease, but I can’t help but feel that the Avs just got worse. I also am curious who will start tonight, seeing as how Georgiev played last night, and Wedgwood will have had a total of 0 practice time with the team ahead of… Read more »
Hey now, calm down, don’t panic, Avs are going to be alright. That was what you were posting recently remember? ๐
Let this be a reminder that anyone can be dealt. I’d seen plenty of posts from people saying Annunen was as untradable as Fourgiev. Not so much eh?
It’s one thing to panic about an outlier loss to a very good team after starting a road trip 3-0. It’s another thing to be confused and frustrated over trading a 24 year old goalie for a 32 year old goalie who doesn’t appear to be any sort of upgrade.
As you say, let’s wait and see. Wedgewood isn’t in their long term plans but it’s apparent they didn’t think Annunen was either despite his age. Given that he’s young could something eventually click with more patience…possibly. With an erratic #1 I’m guessing they wanted a backup with a track record in the league who you basically know what you’re getting when he plays. Annunen was typically sheltered but played really bad against good teams. Don’t know what happened to Wedgewood in Nashville but he’s been a decent backup in his career. Annunen was on ELC type money but Wedgewood… Read more »
Avs got fleeced on this deal. They sent a young goaltender to get a way older goalie. Avs should’ve gotten a 5th rd or something.
Juice will thrive with preds with the style of play they do.
Your point is well taken that he may do better with the Preds style of play but he can also now play more relaxed behind a clear #1 where he might develop more. Could have been the right place at the wrong time. With the Avs he played behind an erratic Georgiev which put pressure on him. I believe the Avs were only looking at the NOW and felt the team might play better in front of a goalie with lots of NHL games under his belt. The idea of giving up a 6th in the deal could be a… Read more »
Cโmon. A sieve is a sieve is a sieve. Thereโs enough of a game sample size to determine that not only is Justus not a starting goaltender, he isnโt even a reliable backup. Thrive in Nashville? More like out of the league within five years.
I personally am not familiar enough with Wedgewood to definitively say whether or not the Avs got slightly worse. But I feel like at best they got a slightly more reliable backup. And I only say that because he’s got more of a proven track record than Juice. Overall I think it’s a pretty non – substantive move. They still need a #1 more than anything. And for a capped out team that is going to have shed salary if Landeskog comes back. I’m not crazy about them adding more salary on a backup goalie. I was fine with Annunen… Read more »
Wow what head scratching move from CMac. Sadly it means the market to trade for a starter is out of our grasp…so another wasted cup window year with Georgie. Really hope Nabokov is ready for next season.
I think they banking on nabokov to come next year but then he will probably play in AHL to start
This move has no bearing or relevancy to what they end up doing with Georgiev.
Head scratch trade given Wedgewood’s middling career numbers and age. Admittedly, Juice had a few disaster games of late but developing young talent takes time. Seems the team lost it’s appetite but is OK sallying forth with Kovy, Ivan and the like.
This trade begs other questions. COL took huge strides this season in youth development but this is a big step back (i.e., Juice is 24 and Wedgewood is 32). And obviously this trade casts a long shadow on who our future net minder will be.
Nabokov is the future
But I don’t understand how the avs couldn’t get a 3rd or 4th rd In the deal
Where’s our leverage? Everyone knows we have a goaltending issue so of course we’re gonna have to give up more to get anything back.
I’m willing to give Wedgewood a chance over Deadwood. We certainly know that Annunen wasn’t the answer. Yeah, older, not great stats and somewhat puzzling acquisition. But what other choice did the Avs have? Especially with the cap constraints the the forever Landeskog issue? A career .905 SV% – slightly higher than Justus but this year, Annunen has stunk it up with a .872 SV%. Not a long term move. More of an addition by subtraction albeit however slightly. But I agree with the comment by one poster – – another year down the drain unless there is some miracle… Read more »
It’s way to early for talk about “cup window closing” and all related non-sense.
Nobody said it was closing, but currently Mikko and Cale are on affordable contracts, Mikko is going to want a big raise this year and Makar can probably fill out his own contract in a few years. Each season we piss away with well below league average goaltending puts us closer to our core becoming too expensive to be able to afford any quality depth.
Yep. Greed 29 is not good! Team first! I remember 29’s father whining that teams do not want to pay big bucks for players and Captain Obvious is in clear view.
The cap is going way up over the next few years. And I think after this year they’ll have Landy’s money to work with long term. Because he’s done. So all of this pearl clutching over the Avs & the cap is unnecessary.
Avs are going to pay quite a bit more than $3.5m for a goalie next season and Mikko will get a $3m or so bump. That’s around $6m over current payroll…Landy’s salary is not really a factor as they are currebtly using his salary while on LTIR. Early cap increase numbers I have seen is $4m – $6m. It’s going to be an issue unless they dump some higher priced roster players.
Avs should sign Adin hill to a 2 year deal. Wedgewood is the only goalie on the roster next year.
They should bring Nabakov in to play in the AHL to get him acclimated
I am more concerned with the decline of 29…
This trade benefits Annunen more than anyone. With the way Bednar managed the goalies this year, he needed to get away from the Avs to even have a shot. The only way we are going to see Bednar willing to reconsider Georgiev as the #1 guy is to trade Georgiev. Like the scene in Moneyball when Billy Bean traded away the manager’s favorite player so the manager had to start a different guy at first. Bednar has deserved Jack Adams consideration for several seasons in a row, but this year he really crapped the bed managing his goalies. He completely… Read more »
You nailed it. I’m probably a Juice Stan, but I think he’s going to make the Avs look foolish one day for trading him – especially within the division to a team that has one of his countrymen as the starter, who could mentor him going forward.
Annunen will be a career backup with the preds unless they trade saros.
But also the preds play a different style of hockey which will help Annunen
Oh they are the anti-avalanche and play defense?
Unlikely, Juice has 1 asset, his size. When he plays his best, it’s just solid positioning and other team can’t hit spots. His movement is very poor, he shows massive net any time he has to move side to side. His good games were more luck than skill. All that said, this deal makes very little sense even if Wedgewood is an upgrade.
True!
The wonks upstairs just put a Band-Aid on a wound that requires a tourniquet.
Feel like a lot of people are missing the point with the “why not fourgiev?!?” comments, but unless they dump a considerable amount of non existent assets, no team is going to take an inconsistent starter with the contract he’s currently on. It seems like a “wake up, this is a win now deal” type trade, going for experience instead of development. It’ll be interesting to see what happens going forward but one thing is for certain, the team needs to stop leaving the goalies out to dry on some nights. Some of their best games have been won with… Read more »
Defense hasn’t been great but also not terrible. According to Hockey Viz, they are a little below league average at 2.3 xGA/60 when 5v5. This isn’t great, but not absolutely awful. To me, that’s not hanging out a goalie to dry, but simply bad goaltending. Last night against Dallas is a good example of this. Their defensive play allowed about 2.5 xGA and Georgie let in 4. They generated slightly over 4 xGF and scored 3 goals, which IMO against Oettinger is about as good as you can expect most nights. Holding Dallas to under 3 xGA is all we… Read more »
“Avs play no defense” is a common narrative on this board. Here’s what the numbers say year to date (Natural Stat Trick) Shots against – 6th Scoring chances against – 10th High danger chances against – 20th So pretty solid numbers with improvement needed in High danger chances allowed. Now on to goaltending. Save % 32nd Scoring chances save % 32nd High danger save% 32nd High danger goals allowed 32nd Pretty clear where the issue lies on this team. The Avs are at worst middle of the pack in defensive metrics but far and away the worst team in the… Read more »
Zach, I am firmly aligned with your thoughts as I’ve made clear on this board since the season started, but I do appreciate Dan G and Brad you guys bringing up the advanced stats for a different insight. The truth is clearly somewhere in the middle because no one can watch the Avs’ team defense night in and night out and not say there is lack of attention to the small things at times. They can play good defense for chunks at a time but then just have a head-scratching breakdown. The goalies are under such a magnifying glass here… Read more »
The Dallas game is a great example for this conversation. Avs had 36 scoring chances to the Stars 23 and had 17 high danger chances to the Stars 9. They had far less breakdowns leading to easy chances than Dallas but Otter ate Georgie’s lunch and made a bunch more quality saves. That’s the reason it feels like goalie play is under more of a microscope here than other places, it is by far the weakest part of the team and way more than league average shots go in from routine scoring chances. It simply has to get better. Doesn’t… Read more »
I think the Avs no longer felt Annunen was their goalie of the future. He became expendable. Wedgewood is not the goalie of the future. He is seen as a dependable backup who can play every 3rd game and replace Georgiev in case of injury. Because of that, the age issue is not a factor.
It was obvious the moment Nabokov was drafted. Well that and drafting more goalies in the later rounds of that same draft.
29capstrung continues to rear it’s ugly head. The price for Blackwood would have carried a cap hit of $2.35M. But that Avs are hard up against the cap. Avs brass has been neglecting goaltending for years. Rather they chose to pay one forward too much and they are doomed. Vegas picked up two rejects and one led them to the Cup. Not happening here, since the team’s style is ‘play no defense, leave the goalie out to dry, and cherry pick for odd-man rushes.” Dear Bednar, this ‘style’ will never win a Cup, and last year’s Hart winner is no… Read more »
MacKinnon for Barkov in an instant. Plus you save $3M, get a captain, and a Selke over a pouter and a Hart.