The Finland native was selected by the Avalanche in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft after building up his stock as one of the best young netminders to come out of the goalie-producing hotbed. Since coming over to North America in 2021, Annunen has gone up and down between the Avs and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

The 24-year-old saw sporadic appearances in his first two seasons with the organization but has taken on a bigger role after Pavel Francouz was ruled out of the remainder of the 2023-24 season with a nagging groin injury. He was recalled by Colorado back in mid-January and has since made eight appearances with the Avalanche. He has a 5-2-1 record with a 2.38 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, posting his first two NHL shutouts in back-to-back starts on Feb. 29 and March 4, both against the Chicago Blackhawks.

I’ve got my eyes on Trevor Zegras. In speaking with teams around the league, they suggest that Zegras’ name has been out there, and in play. And while that may be a bit of a surprise for a guy who was a cover athlete on NHL 23 and has scored some incredible highlight reel goals, I think the truth is I don’t know many people believe Trevor Zegras meshes with the ultimate view of how (Ducks GM) Pat Verbeek wants to see the Anaheim Ducks play and their style. That loss could be someone elses gain.

Certainly not saying that anything is immenent, but the fact that Zegras’ name has been out there, the fact they opened training camp this season and they didn’t have Trevor Zegras there because this conract dispute was ongoing, which at times I think probably got pretty nasty, he’s got two years left on this bridge deal at $5.75 per. He’s hit 60-plus points in back-to-back years.

I think there’s some question to whether he’s truly a center or a wing in the NHL, but I think another team would be pretty happy to find out what tha answer is and grab him.

Again, not predicting or projecting that there’s a move before the deadline, but the fact his name is in play — and now that you add another piece in Gauthier — it certainly kind of feels like after Drysdale, another guy who went through a contract dispute this past summer and took a long time to sign, he’s gone, maybe Zegras is next.

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It probably would’ve been really best to do it last summer before the contract dispute, before this season got off to a rocky start with just one goal in his first 12 games, the start before the injury. Before all those things, and not to say it spiraled, but it certainly has been a pretty tough start to the season for Trevor Zegras that probably would’ve been in the Ducks best interest and his to get a clean start elsewhere.