Avalanche draft Justus Annunen 64th overall

The Colorado Avalanche came into the NHL Draft with two selections in the second round thanks to the fruitful Matt Duchene trade. After dealing the higher of their two picks to Washington in a Friday afternoon trade, the Avalanche walked into Day Two of the draft with just one of those picks.

Once they got on the clock, Colorado elected to trade down with the Pittsburgh Penguins, moving from 58 to 64 while also adding pick 146. The move down gave the Avalanche the room they wanted to select Finnish goaltender Justus Annunen. It was the third consecutive year they selected a European goaltender.

The 6’4″ netminder struggled to find words before finally delving into the feelings of the day.

“This is an awesome feeling, maybe the best of my life,” Annunen said. “This is awesome. I don’t have words now.”

As the process went on, Annunen said he met with the Avalanche and felt there was a lot of interest there.

“Yeah, they were very interested in me,” Annunen said, cracking a smile. “So, I thought there was a good chance they take me.”

Being a big goaltender from Finland, he naturally has drawn comparisons to recent Vezina Trophy winner and fellow Finn Pekka Rinna. That comparison wasn’t quite perfect in his eyes.

“Yeah, maybe a little bit,” Annunen pondered. “I think he’s like a little more aggressive in the net, and I’m like a calm goalie. So there’s a little difference between us. But a little bit the same.”

Annunen had a slow start to the season before rebounding with a strong finish for the Karpat U-20 team. Even though Karpat just won the Liiga this past season, he still hopes to make that full-time roster this fall.

“I think it was just, I mean, in everything,” Annunen said of his topsy-turvy season. “I had a bad start to the season. So I found good confidence to my own game and I played very well after that. So I think that’s the biggest thing.”

That confidence certainly hasn’t waned since the end of the year. Upon being asked to assess his own play, Annunen didn’t hesitate to make sure everyone knew how he felt.

“I’m pretty calm in the net,” Annunen began. “And in every area, I’m pretty good. I don’t have any [glaring] weaknesses. I’m good at everything.”

Well then.

Arguably the strongest portion of his season was backstopping Finland at the U-18 World Championships to the gold medal. His play was good enough to sell teams on him late in the evaluation process.

“It was a great tournament for [the] whole team, I think every guy played the best game of their life,” Annunen said with a laugh. “So, it was a big thing for us and for me.”

His draft experience was one to remember as he has spent the last couple of days with his family checking out Dallas and trying to enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

It’s been awesome!” Annunen proclaimed. “I have spent time with my family, it’s their first time North America, so it’s like, a big thing for them too. It’s awesome.

The weather has been an issue for the Finn so he said he’s been pretty focused on just the process itself.

“Just focus on the draft,” Annunen said about his process. “It’s too hot”.

What does his immediate future hold?

“I think I’m going to play to play in the second highest league in Finland, but I try to get games in Liiga,” Annunen said.

We’ll see where he ends up but on this day Colorado landed the goaltender it wanted.