Prospect Info: Justus Annunen (G) (2018 64th overall)
- Thread starter Freudian
- Start date
Hope he works out, picked far sooner than he was ranked by most scouting services. I wonder if Rodrigue was the player that the Avs were looking at, but they tried to get too cute by moving back. Hard to know, as the Avs seem to have a preference for Euro netminders.
GirardSpinorama
Registered User
- Aug 20, 2004
- 21,293
- 10,096
Nothing wrong with the prospect, but this feels like another draft where we kinda just targets one position. Bad draft strategy.
Size Queen.
For those of us who were insisting that Sakic use that 2nd from Nashville to draft a Goalie, he did in a round about way.
The Pwnerer
Registered User
- Jan 27, 2006
- 6,932
- 4,590
Goalies are such a wildcard, looking back at the last 10 years of our drafted goalies its ugly...lets hope Justus is served and he breaks the cycle.
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UncleRisto
Not Great, Bob!
Papa Francouz
Registered User
Gigantor The Goalie
Speak for the Goalies
I'm quite happy to end with Annunen as I've been high on him since the Ivan Hlinka and he finished 4th in my overall rankings. A bit sad we passed over Skarek but it's whatever at this point. Anyways here's part of the write-up on him:
The first you’ll notice when watching Annunen play is he has a pro-sized frame already. The second aspect of Annunen you’ll notice right after wards is he knows just how big he is and how to mold his own play style to his advantage. There’s an obvious technical slant to Annunen’s play style because it’s the best for how it fits his strengths and weaknesses. He uses a taller stance with hands out in an active position. With this type of stance he knows he doesn’t (and shouldn’t) need to be aggressive often because he’s already taking up a large portion of the net. What I like most about his crease depth is how he picks his spots when to be aggressive and when to be further back. It’s this type of recognition that fits into Annunen’s mind set which is play within his limits. Annunen knows he’s not the perfect goalie and has limits. So he plays within his box of control and rarely over extends himself in order to cover up his weaknesses as best as possible. His technical proficiency extends to his post play where he’s learned how integrate himself with the post and does well in tracking the puck behind the net.
Annunen’s biggest weakness is his physical skill set and in particular his quickness. Now he does have a solid base of footwork and edge work. He has both of them at a level high enough that they get him around the net efficiently enough right now as long as he moves within his box of control. His box of control though isn’t very big which is why he needs to be as good as he is at controlling his crease depth but there are always parts of the game where he needs to go outside of that box and that’s where he runs into trouble. He hasn’t built up his leg strength to the point where he has an explosive portion to his game leaving him highly vulnerable to royal road-type passes. Annunen also struggles at keeping his form together when making those long distance movements as he sees his upper body positioning disintegrate and it’s obvious he’s overextending himself. This shows up in his Impact Rating results in 2/3 tournaments tracked posting a below average Impact Rating on shots off passes at the Ivan Hlinka and U18 5 Nations. The one bit of quickness he does have is his reactions, especially his reactions in close making him hard to beat on those in-close chances because he’s quick and seals up very well. A smaller issue I’d like to see him shore up is when it comes to his decision making regarding the RVH. He’s a bit too comfortable in using it when he’s near his posts getting into the RVH early.
The most important aspect of Annunen’s game apart from his technical proficiency is his puck tracking. Without his puck tracking he wouldn’t be able to adjust his crease depth to accommodate his box of control. He does a very good job at knowing where the puck is at all times and does well at tracking shots into his body. There are inconsistent moments that happen on the longer range shots, especially if they are aimed at his pads or blocker. He’s able to get his body in front of the puck to save it but you’d like to see him control the puck better in those situations. It’s been a good progression though for Annunen in puck tracking that you can see in his Impact Rating through the season. At the Ivan Hlinka his IR was below average, at the U18 5 Nations it was slightly above average, and then when it came to the U18 WJC’s he was way above average. It’s very promising when you see a goalie progress the way Annunen has. When it comes to playing the puck he generally does well on his passes and clears. Where he runs into trouble is in his awareness of where the forecheckers are which will cause issues the higher Annunen plays.
The first you’ll notice when watching Annunen play is he has a pro-sized frame already. The second aspect of Annunen you’ll notice right after wards is he knows just how big he is and how to mold his own play style to his advantage. There’s an obvious technical slant to Annunen’s play style because it’s the best for how it fits his strengths and weaknesses. He uses a taller stance with hands out in an active position. With this type of stance he knows he doesn’t (and shouldn’t) need to be aggressive often because he’s already taking up a large portion of the net. What I like most about his crease depth is how he picks his spots when to be aggressive and when to be further back. It’s this type of recognition that fits into Annunen’s mind set which is play within his limits. Annunen knows he’s not the perfect goalie and has limits. So he plays within his box of control and rarely over extends himself in order to cover up his weaknesses as best as possible. His technical proficiency extends to his post play where he’s learned how integrate himself with the post and does well in tracking the puck behind the net.
Annunen’s biggest weakness is his physical skill set and in particular his quickness. Now he does have a solid base of footwork and edge work. He has both of them at a level high enough that they get him around the net efficiently enough right now as long as he moves within his box of control. His box of control though isn’t very big which is why he needs to be as good as he is at controlling his crease depth but there are always parts of the game where he needs to go outside of that box and that’s where he runs into trouble. He hasn’t built up his leg strength to the point where he has an explosive portion to his game leaving him highly vulnerable to royal road-type passes. Annunen also struggles at keeping his form together when making those long distance movements as he sees his upper body positioning disintegrate and it’s obvious he’s overextending himself. This shows up in his Impact Rating results in 2/3 tournaments tracked posting a below average Impact Rating on shots off passes at the Ivan Hlinka and U18 5 Nations. The one bit of quickness he does have is his reactions, especially his reactions in close making him hard to beat on those in-close chances because he’s quick and seals up very well. A smaller issue I’d like to see him shore up is when it comes to his decision making regarding the RVH. He’s a bit too comfortable in using it when he’s near his posts getting into the RVH early.
The most important aspect of Annunen’s game apart from his technical proficiency is his puck tracking. Without his puck tracking he wouldn’t be able to adjust his crease depth to accommodate his box of control. He does a very good job at knowing where the puck is at all times and does well at tracking shots into his body. There are inconsistent moments that happen on the longer range shots, especially if they are aimed at his pads or blocker. He’s able to get his body in front of the puck to save it but you’d like to see him control the puck better in those situations. It’s been a good progression though for Annunen in puck tracking that you can see in his Impact Rating through the season. At the Ivan Hlinka his IR was below average, at the U18 5 Nations it was slightly above average, and then when it came to the U18 WJC’s he was way above average. It’s very promising when you see a goalie progress the way Annunen has. When it comes to playing the puck he generally does well on his passes and clears. Where he runs into trouble is in his awareness of where the forecheckers are which will cause issues the higher Annunen plays.
Foppa Frossa
Registered User
CalderKing21
Darth Calder
Goalies and D men are my sweet spot. I love it when we take them. Hope he develops well. We need to start developing some top notch goalie prospects.
DanishAvsfan
Registered User
- Aug 27, 2007
- 1,242
- 475
klozge
Avs
He played pretty good U18 World Championships and despite not having good first two months of the season, he ended up playing really well and especially his playoffs were excellent. He was also selected as the best goalie in Finnish U20 league.
Our take
Justus Annunen | FinnProspects.com
Our take
Justus Annunen | FinnProspects.com
MarkT
Heretic
- Nov 11, 2017
- 3,997
- 4,513
If that interview is representative of his personality, I think that's a good fit for a goalie. Supremely confident, but very deliberate and emotionless.
Tommy Shelby
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2012
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UncleRisto
Not Great, Bob!
Classic Northern Ostrobothnian terrible English (see also, Jesse Puljujärvi). I wonder why no one bothered around here.
Also, although the Finnish culturally accepted behavior rules out happiness, it leaves the door open for rage.
I wouldn't say you can tell if he's emotionless on the ice based on this. The Finnish language is super flat, and he's struggling with vocabulary here.
Also, although the Finnish culturally accepted behavior rules out happiness, it leaves the door open for rage.
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Freudian
Clearly deranged
- Jul 3, 2003
- 50,488
- 17,378
People from northern Sweden and Finland are known to be very even keeled and somewhat introverted, so him saying it's an awesome feeling in a rather flat tone is to be expected.
MarkT
Heretic
- Nov 11, 2017
- 3,997
- 4,513
Hm. Interesting. Most of my experience with northern Scandinavians is with Norwegians.
UncleRisto
Not Great, Bob!
My favorite nitpicky factoid is that Finns aren't Scandinavians in the term's original context. This has ethnographic value in this conversation, but I'll let it slide this once.
Half of the interviews yesterday didn't speak good English and it was amazing. It probably is more if you factor in our 6'6" Tim Thomas goaler. I had a post about him that I posted yesterday, but it seems it got lost in the blackhole which is known as HFBoards.
He say's he models his game after Rinne, but not sure I see the athleticism that Rinne has. Definitely doesn't have the athletic ability compared to the two other Czech goalers in draft (Dostal and Skarek). Don't get me wrong, he's definitely a legitimate goaltending prospect, but his strengths come more from his calming demeanor and a fortress mental game. I argue that his mental game could be one of the best or the best for any goaler in this entire draft - something that's extremely important. Very rarely does he allow a bad goal affect him or take him off his game. Additionally, he has a very sound technical game where his positioning is probably the second best strength after his mental toughness. Needs to lose a bit of weight (as we see from his cheeks), needs a bit more explosiveness, and needs to work on his lateral speed/movement, but there is a lot to like here. So for all those reasons a comparison I really like is Frederik Andersen type of goaler.
He say's he models his game after Rinne, but not sure I see the athleticism that Rinne has. Definitely doesn't have the athletic ability compared to the two other Czech goalers in draft (Dostal and Skarek). Don't get me wrong, he's definitely a legitimate goaltending prospect, but his strengths come more from his calming demeanor and a fortress mental game. I argue that his mental game could be one of the best or the best for any goaler in this entire draft - something that's extremely important. Very rarely does he allow a bad goal affect him or take him off his game. Additionally, he has a very sound technical game where his positioning is probably the second best strength after his mental toughness. Needs to lose a bit of weight (as we see from his cheeks
), needs a bit more explosiveness, and needs to work on his lateral speed/movement, but there is a lot to like here. So for all those reasons a comparison I really like is Frederik Andersen type of goaler.
UncleRisto
Not Great, Bob!
The Rinne thing is most definitely a background based pseudo-comparison. They're both from Kempele, which is a small municipality in the Oulu sub-region right near here. Then they both joined the Kärpät FEL team as draft-agers, and seeing as though Annunen has starter potential and Rinne is a star goaltender, they're now a similar story.Half of the interviews yesterday didn't speak good English and it was amazing. It probably is more if you factor in our 6'6" Tim Thomas goaler. I had a post about him that I posted yesterday, but it seems it got lost in the blackhole which is known as HFBoards.
He say's he models his game after Rinne, but not sure I see the athleticism that Rinne has. Definitely doesn't have the athletic ability compared to the two other Czech goalers in draft (Dostal and Skarek). Don't get me wrong, he's definitely a legitimate goaltending prospect, but his strengths come more from his calming demeanor and a fortress mental game. I argue that his mental game could be one of the best or the best for any goaler in this entire draft - something that's extremely important. Very rarely does he allow a bad goal affect him or take him off his game. Additionally, he has a very sound technical game where his positioning is probably the second best strength after his mental toughness. Needs to lose a bit of weight (as we see from his cheeks
- Apr 25, 2006
- 49,659
- 52,925
Not saying he's fat but he obviously can get in better shape and that would probably help his quickness?
UncleRisto
Not Great, Bob!
Hepple says that this pick was pretty much the combination between Jussi Parkkila and Joni Lehto. It sounded to me that Hepple doesn't really have an eye for scouting goaltending, so he gives his regional scouts more freedom along with the goaltending coach to help choose them. Alan did say he liked a lot of the top goalers this year, liked a lot of their athleticism.
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