Prospect Info: Justus Annunen

[Bonzai12]

Pretty complimentary article this am on Annunen out of Finland. I don’t know anything about the kid but it seems like his contract is running out soon and the Avs may be on a quick timetable to throw him some NHL starts. What’s the future for him and are we realistically going to see him this year? or is this article just clickbait and I’m a victim

https://thehockeywriters.com/avalanche-annunen-future-franchise-goalie/

Click to read more...

 

[tigervixxxen]

It’s from the hockey writers which is a content farm/blog. Not to say there’s no value to the work but not much new info there.

As mentioned Annunen did sign the ELC so it’s conceivable he comes over whenever the Liiga ends which is sometime after March depending on playoff success. Kärpät is disappointing this year so it could be sooner than later. I would expect him full time in NA next year. He probably has to start in the AHL and the sooner they are comfortable with him being the #3 is the sooner we stop trading for third goaltenders.

I feel like Annunen has been more uneven than some are aware of. After he broke the SO record he had a decent but ok WJC, dipped in the second half and then was injured. Was injured again to start this season and then hasn’t performed as well though he does at least look like he’s the 1A there and the team struggling isn’t all on him. Under .900 in the Liiga is poor though.

So I’m personally hoping for NHL backup upside. Anything more we’ll see.

 

[McMetal]

As the article mentions, how he translates to the AHL will be key. It's one thing to process the play on big ice; things move faster here and some goalies fall on their faces when making that transition to North America. Coming over at the end of the year will be a big test for him, and then his next test will be establishing himself as the undisputed AHL starter the year after.

There's plenty of reason to be optimistic, though. He was a highly rated goalie in his draft year, and he's taken good steps forward since then. He's still extremely young for a goalie, and there are plenty of potential speed bumps ahead of him, so we'll just need to wait and see, but it's been a while since we've genuinely had a drafted goalie in the system that had real #1 upside. Cautious excitement is warranted.

 

[UncleRisto]

Kärpät is disappointing this year so it could be sooner than later.

This is true, but they're going to make the playoffs and a lot of teams are going to be losing a lot of NHL help.

 

[Hasbro]

A legend is born...

 

[AvsFanInMichigan]

How did he play ? Didn’t see the game

 

[Balthazar]

How did he play ? Didn’t see the game

Fine I guess. Didn't get tested much, most shots were routine saves. Would have been nice to get a save in OT but we can't blame him.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Basically a big goalie with good positioning for the most part. I don't see athleticism or quick reflexes or just that raw desire to make a save that screen future star. Just solid technical goalie with good size.

 

[Avs_19]

Like I said in the GDT, I’m far from a goalie expert but is that glove hand positioning going to be an issue? @Gigantor The Goalie?

 

[dahrougem2]

Like I said in the GDT, I’m far from a goalie expert but is that glove hand positioning going to be an issue? @Gigantor The Goalie?

Well Tkachuk and Steutzle both knew exactly where they were going when they had time to shoot.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

How did he play ? Didn’t see the game

Ok I guess.

Really didn't face anything dangerous other than the two shots that beat him. Both were clean shots that just beat him glove side. I especially think you'd like to get a save on the OT one. You cant blame him for it because it was a breakaway, but there was no fake shot, no deke, and honestly Tkachuk shot it from pretty far out and just beat him clean.

If Kuemper still isn't ready on Monday I'd probably give Annunen one more game. Over JJ at least. Maybe they get Francouz to meet the team in Philly for Monday but I definitely wouldn't be giving JJ the start.

 

[Arto Kilponen]

I think both of those goals are his fault. Not like he'd completely suck, but when you are as a goalie heads up against a player (breakaway or not), it is your responsibility to stop them. Yes, absolutely that breakaway should have never happened, but as a goalie, your job is to stop them.

Obviously it happens to every single goalie occasionally that they fail to stop those, but still, neither of the goals was totally impossible to stop. Yes, quality shots, but as an NHL goalie you need to be able to stop quality shots.

Personally I would give him another start in NHL now. The most important thing is that he gets more ice time, if that's in NHL, fine, if that's in AHL, not bad either.

 

[John Mandalorian]

I think both of those goals are his fault. Not like he'd completely suck, but when you are as a goalie heads up against a player (breakaway or not), it is your responsibility to stop them. Yes, absolutely that breakaway should have never happened, but as a goalie, your job is to stop them.

Obviously it happens to every single goalie occasionally that they fail to stop those, but still, neither of the goals was totally impossible to stop. Yes, quality shots, but as an NHL goalie you need to be able to stop quality shots.

Personally I would give him another start in NHL now. The most important thing is that he gets more ice time, if that's in NHL, fine, if that's in AHL, not bad either.

I'm cutting him some slack since the game moves a lot faster in the NHL. The passes and shots are also more precise. I'd like to see him get another start too to see how he adjusts.

 

[Arto Kilponen]

I'm cutting him some slack since the game moves a lot faster in the NHL. The passes and shots are also more precise. I'd like to see him get another start too to see how he adjusts.

I agree with you. It is kind of hard to put in words what I mean, but while the goals were "his fault" it is not like I would actually "blame him".

As a goalie I would for sure feel I should have stopped them. Yes, great players and new level and faster situations and whatever, still, should stop those. Lost 1-on-1 situations and pretty much the primary job is to win those battles. And at the same time, everyone knows that can't win them all.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

Like I said in the GDT, I’m far from a goalie expert but is that glove hand positioning going to be an issue? @Gigantor The Goalie?

On both goals when you have that much time to pick your spot and are able to load up a shot, it becomes very difficult as a goalie to react in time. It really pushes the boundaries of what humans are capable of reacting to. The glove being a bit turned in I have no issues with as angles come into play there. On the first goal I see hesitancy in how he challenges. Once he realizes that Stutzle has more time to shoot Annunen tries to get a bit further out but by then it's too late as he's just getting set by the time the shot comes off the stick. For the breakaway goal to me it looks like he was just caught off guard by how quick Tkachuk was coming in and wasn't expecting a shot as you can see how far back he slides showing he had a lot of momentum going backwards anticipating a cut across the crease or a something of the sort.

 

[Snow Arc]

He just needs faster paws, but I'm not sure you can teach that

 

[niwotsblessing]

On both goals when you have that much time to pick your spot and are able to load up a shot, it becomes very difficult as a goalie to react in time. It really pushes the boundaries of what humans are capable of reacting to. The glove being a bit turned in I have no issues with as angles come into play there. On the first goal I see hesitancy in how he challenges. Once he realizes that Stutzle has more time to shoot Annunen tries to get a bit further out but by then it's too late as he's just getting set by the time the shot comes off the stick. For the breakaway goal to me it looks like he was just caught off guard by how quick Tkachuk was coming in and wasn't expecting a shot as you can see how far back he slides showing he had a lot of momentum going backwards anticipating a cut across the crease or a something of the sort.

It reads to me like you are describing a rookie goalie in his first NHL game.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

It reads to me like you are describing a rookie goalie in his first NHL game.

 

[AvsCOL]

I think it’s impossible to get a real opinion on a goalie coming in midway through a game. He sat on the bench for a period and a half, and came in cold in his first NHL game.

Give him the start tomorrow night, and see what happens. JoJo has done everything in his power to earn a demotion to the AHL, so let’s see what we have in Annunen, for better or for worse.

But if there’s one thing I know, it’s Bednar sticking to something that doesn’t work. JoJo probably starts.

 

[Gigantor The Goalie]

To be fair to Bednar he knows if the Avs play tight defensively and allow only one or two major breakdowns JoJo will only let in one or two goals. JoJo is super predictable in that if you give him certain shots he'll save them. He's a traditional no. 3 in that he can play behind a well executed defensive system with predictable shots against. JoJo knows where he has to be for each shot. Asking him to react to NHL speed is where we get into trouble. With Annunen I can see the concern. He's going to take a bit of time to figure out where the best spot is on the ice for each situation in order to react to all potential situations (pass, shot, deflection, etc) and not end up out of position. We saw that on the two goals last game. Another practice under his belt will certainly help him show off in front of Bednar/Parkkila. What you definitely start to worry about with JoJo though is two fold, physical/mental fatigue and lack of confidence of the players in front of him. We saw the latter a lot with Miska last year and I don't know how much you want to push it with a fair amount of season left to go. Maybe putting Annunen in will be a confidence booster for the rest of the team as they get a fresh goalie who wasn't apart of some bad goals recently.

 

[henchman21]

Annunen isn’t anywhere near ready. He needs to improve his explosiveness and get bigger in net. He plays way too small when combined with not burst. Bad combo in the NHL…

 

[pont]

He looked too much like Miska for my liking tonight. Yuck!

 

[Arto Kilponen]

Five goals allowed tonight. Two (first and fifth) of those were heads up against a forward and he lost them both. Two others were one timers, one passed from behind the net and another from side-to-side, defense has to cover either the pass or the shot, goalie can take the other one. Fourth one was directed in a meter away from the net.

But a win is a win.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Congrats on the first W kid but ya, If Kuemper isn't ready Wednesday night, Johansson needs to start. Or Francouz needs to be brought up tomorrow.

 

[Balthazar]

He plays way too small

He looked too much like Miska