Avalanche Re-Signs Annunen

Jul 2, 2023

Denver - The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that the team has re-signed goaltender Justus Annunen to a one-year contract for the 2023-24 season.

Annunen, 23, posted a 22-10-8 record in 41 regular-season games with Colorado’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, during the 2022-23 season. He registered a 2.55 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage, which ranked sixth in the AHL. Annunen went 2-1 in three postseason contests with the Eagles, registering a 3.87 goals-against average and a .886 save percentage. The netminder also appeared in two regular-season games with the Avalanche, posting a 1-1-0 record.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound netminder has a 46-24-15 record, 2.80 goals-against average, .904 save percentage and three shutouts in 91 career AHL contests, all with the Eagles. He’s appeared in 13 career Calder Cup Playoff outings, recording an 8-5 record, 2.83 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.

Annunen made his NHL debut with the Avalanche on Dec. 4, 2021, at Ottawa and secured his first NHL win two days later, Dec. 6, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 7-5. He helped the Eagles reach the Pacific Division Finals in 2021-22, posting a 6-3 record, 2.46 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage in nine contests.

Prior to coming to North America, Annunen posted a 15-5-3 record in 23 games for Karpat in Finland’s top professional league (Liiga) during the 2019-20 season. He ranked first among all goaltenders in both save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (1.77) and finished second in the league with six shutouts. He established a new league record for the longest shutout streak during a single season (302 minutes, five seconds) from Sept. 21 – Oct. 23. Annunen has appeared in 49 career Liiga contests, recording a 22-15-11 record, 2.18 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

In 2018-19, Annunen had a 13-8 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and .891 save percentage competing for Hermes in Finland's second-highest hockey league, Mestis. He joined Karpat Jr. for the postseason and posted a 1.50 goals-against average and .930 save percentage in six appearances to help the team capture the Jr. A SM-liiga championship.

Selected by Colorado in the third round (64th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft, Annunen played 26 regular-season games for Karpat Jr. in 2017-18, registering a 2.31 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. He added a 1.83 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in 12 postseason contests. The Kempele, Finland, native was the recipient of the Jorma Valtonen Award as the junior league’s best goaltender and was named to the First All-Star Team.

Internationally, Annunen represented his country at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he finished the tournament with a .916 save percentage and a 2.65 goals-against average in six contests. His 362:01 minutes in net was the second-most among all goaltenders in the tournament. Annunen helped Finland capture the gold medal at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship, registering a 6-0 record with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in six games. He also competed at the 2017 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge, recording a 3.05 goals-against average and .904 save percentage in three contests.