NHL trade grades: Avalanche chose incredibly underwhelming solution to fix glaring goaltending issue

At 13-11-0, the Colorado Avalanche are not where they want to be. Their 26 points are enough to have them tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference entering play on Saturday, but even while they've played better lately, they aren't looking like the Stanley Cup contenders they were expecting to be entering the year.

The biggest reason why the Avalanche are where they are right now is because they've allowed far too many goals. The team ranks in the top 10 in goals per game, but the 3.71 goals that they've allowed per game ranks 30th in the NHL. Only the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins - two last-place teams - rank lower.

Blaming goaltending for allowing too many goals often feels like the easy way out, but in Colorado's case, that's the truth of where they are right now. Despite allowing the third-most goals in the NHL, they've surrendered the sixth-fewest shots. Their .871 team save percentage is the worst mark in the NHL by a substantial margin. The New York Rangers have allowed nearly eight more shots per game than Colorado per StatMuse, yet they rank in the top 10 in goals against per game. New York has gotten poor defensive play and solid goaltending, while the Avalanche have gotten solid defensive play but horrific goaltending.

In order to address their goaltending issue, the Avalanche made a trade with the Nashville Predators, acquiring Scott Wedgewood in a deal that sent Justus Annunen and a sixth-round pick to the Predators.

NHL trade grades: Avalanche acquire Scott Wedgewood in goalie swap with Predators

The Avalanche deserve credit for doing something to address their goaltending issue, and it's not as if John Gibson or a different big-name goaltender is realistically available in late November, but it's hard not to be a bit underwhelmed by this from Colorado's perspective.

The Avalanche acquired Scott Wedgewood, a goaltender who has had struggles of his own in a reserve role with the Predators. In the five games (four starts) he's appeared in, the 32-year-old has gone 1-2-1 with a .878 save percentage and has surrendered 3.96 goals per game. He had been a solid backup for the last couple of years with the Dallas Stars before signing a two-year deal with Nashville over the offseason, but had his share of ups and downs at the NHL level before that.

Moving from a subpar Predators team to Colorado is bound to help Wedgewood, and it's not as if Annunen has played well, but the Avalanche parted with a goaltender who showed flashes last season and happens to be eight years younger than Wedgewood in exchange for a struggling goaltender while also parting with a draft pick. Wedgewood might be a bit better than Annunen, but are we really sure about that?

The Predators have had a miserable start to their season, so they made this trade with an eye towards the future. Annunen is considerably younger, and despite his struggles this season, he had a .928 save percentage in 14 games for Colorado just last season. Sure, that's a small sample, but it's not as if Wedgewood has helped them win games. Annunen gives the Predators a bit more upside in games that they don't have their No. 1 goaltender, Juuse Saros, and given their recent development with guys like Saros and Yaroslav Askarov, it wouldn't be shocking to see Annunen fit in quite nicely with the Predators.

It's not hard to see why the Avalanche made this move. Wedgewood has been good in the past, and the team is trying to win right now. Perhaps a change of scenery can help him improve and help the Avalanche win games. Still, based on how Wedgewood has played, this might not be a substantial upgrade for Colorado. Without a substantial upgrade in net, the Avalanche aren't going anywhere.

Colorado Avalanche trade grade: C
Nashville Predators trade grade: B