Avalanche signs 20-year-old Finnish goalie Justus Annunen

The Avalanche on Thursday signed impressive young goalie Justus Annunen to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Annunen, a 20-year-old Finnish professional, is Colorado’s fourth goalie under contract for next season, along with NHLers Pavel Francouz and Philipp Grubauer and minor-league regular Adam Werner.

The 6-foot-4 Annunen likely will compete with Werner for the No. 1 job for the AHL’s Colorado Eagles next season.

Annunen is already a proven pro. He is 15-5-3 for Karpat in Finland’s top professional league, ranking first in both save percentage (.929) and goals-against average (1.77). He set the league record for longest shutout streak of 302 minutes, five seconds, from Sept 21 to Oct. 23.

Annunen was selected by Colorado 64th overall in the 2018 NHL draft and starred for Finland at the recent World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic. He had a 30-save shutout to upset Team USA 1-0 in the Jan. 2 quarterfinals.

Shortly before being drafted by the Avs, Annunen helped Finland capture the gold medal at the 2018 U18 World Championship.