The Colorado Avalanche announced that they recalled the guardian Justus Annunen of their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. This decision comes following the eye injury of the starting goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper suffered in Game 3 against the Nashville Predators.

Although coach Jared Bednar said after the game that Kuemper was “better” and had a chance to play in Game 4, Annunen’s recall indicates Kuemper isn’t 100% certain he’ll return for the game. of tomorrow. This hypothesis is further supported by scenes of Avalanche practice today, such as Reporting by Nick Cotsonika of NHL.com that “two goalies” were on the ice and “Kuemper [was] not one of them. cotsonika too relayed Bednar’s comments, who said that Kuemper’s “eye is fine” but there is “swelling” and that he will only play “if the swelling goes down”. So in case Kuemper’s eye doesn’t fully recover by tomorrow’s game, the team has Annunen ready to back up. Pavel Francouzwhich would begin.

Annunen, 22, was the 64th overall pick in the 2018 draft and was the AHL’s starting goalie for most of that season. He has an .893 save percentage in 48 games at the AHL level and has played in two NHL games this season, where he has a mark of .863. Assuming Francouz remains healthy, it’s unlikely that the still-developing Annunen will need to see a playoff run for the Avalanche, so his call-up is more about protecting Kuemper than anything else.