The Nashville Predators have made a significant move on goalie Justus Annunen. On Monday, Nashville general manager announced that the Preds have inked Annunen to a two-year contract extension worth $2.5 million.
Nashville made an announcement on Annunen's extension with a post on the team's official website and via a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“BIG JUICE FOR 2 MORE YEARS! 🤯 We've signed goaltender Justus Annunen to a 2-year contract starting in the 2026-2027 season,” the social media post read.
“LETS GO BIG JUICE !!!,” a commenter said.
“finnish goalies 🤝🏽 preds 🤝🏽 goalies nicknamed juice,” another fan on social media shared.
“Well,he has performed decently as Juuse's backup,” a different commenter said.
“congrats justus!!! big juice stays 🧃,” one commented.
“Good for the club and him,” stated another.
The 25-year-old Annunen is in his second season with the Predators, but he has yet to complete a full one with the franchise. He was acquired by Nashville via a midseason trade in November of 2024 from the Colorado Avalanche. He was sent to Nashville along with a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in exchange for netminder Scott Wedgewood.
Annunen's new contract will start in the 2026-27 NHL season and comes with an average annual value of $1.25 million. He is currently serving as the chief backup to star Predators goalie Juuse Saros, who signed an eight-year, $61.9 million deal with the team in November, an extension that started to kick in this 2025-26 NHL campaign.
Through 35 appearances, including 29 starts, between the pipes for Nashville, Annunen has put together a 12-16-2 record to go along with a .902 save percentage and a 2.81 goals against average.
