The Detroit Red Wings have found a goaltender. The Red Wings have acquired Alex Nedeljkovic from the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes will receive Jonathan Bernier and a third-round pick in return. Bernier is a pending unrestricted free agent and has not signed with Carolina at this point.
Nedeljkovic, 25, burst onto the scene in Carolina this season, taking over the net when given the opportunity. After Petr Mrazek went out with injury, Nedeljkovic stepped in and posted a .932 save percentage in 23 games. He continued to play in the postseason for the Hurricanes, registering a .920 in nine appearances, but losing five of the games he played in. Nedeljkovic finished third in Calder Trophy voting as one of the league’s best rookies.
After that breakout performance, Nedeljkovic was set up for a huge raise in restricted free agency. The young goaltender was arbitration-eligible and could have landed a substantial award, something the Hurricanes did not feel comfortable paying. In Detroit, he quickly signed a two-year contract that will carry a cap hit of $3.0MM, which takes him to UFA status following the 2022-23 season. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the deal will pay Nedeljkovic $2.5MM in 2021-22 and $3.5MM in 2022-23.
The Hurricanes now have three goaltenders, Bernier, Mrazek and James Reimer, who have all been starters in the past and will become unrestricted free agents on July 28. They do not have any real NHL options in the system, meaning there will be contracts to come at some point.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was first to report the news on Twitter.
Weird. I get it from Detroit’s perspective but from Carolinas?
Cap. They didn’t want to pay the guy who lost 5 games in the playoffs. If they pay him 3.5 million, they can’t sign a veteran goalie. If they had faith in him, they pay him.
Stevie y with the steal of the year WOW!!!!!!!!!!
Another steal!
Really a 3rd and an UFA? Carolina not wanting to spend the 3.5
Especially considering that Reiner and Mrazek are UFAs as well.
nice move Yaz
Awful deal for the Canes. Martin Jones and Robin Lehner were traded for 1st round picks having proved far less. Just awful.
Wow what a terrible deal for the Canes. Wings fleeced them.
What in the hell is Carolina thinking? Please don’t tell me they think signing a guy like Andersen for more money is an improvement or signing Alex for less?
Canes…..no goalie equals no chance
You can try to rationalize it through the arbitration argument but I’m sorry this is a step in the wrong direction for Carolina. If Bernier signs and is as good as he was last year getting him plus a 3rd makes this trade digestible but still probably leaves Carolina as the losers here imo
Well I may not know enough about this guy other than he had a good start but Wings just trusting the Yzerplan. Sure looks like a good deal at first glance.
Maybe Carolina want to draft that new kid from Sweden to play in goal?
He’s going to Detroit too
McTavish is Detroit’s guy at 6. Cossa if he’s there at 24
Dude has played 23 games.
Maybe he’s great, maybe he’s Andrew Hammond.
If this move is because they are cheap, well, then boo Dundon. But, if they don’t want to risk the peak years of a contending team with unproven goaltending, OK…now what?
Wings have time to find someone else if he’s no good before it matters, so, hard not to like their end. If he is good, steal. If not, not a big deal.
Well said
The Hurricanes have to find another goalie who likely won’t be better or on a more reasonable cap hit
That’s what I mean by “now what?”
Pens are in the same boat now. OK, we have some cap space. The free agent list is ugly.
One team this offseason might be able to solve their goalie issues IF they make VGK an offer they can’t refuse for MAF or Lehner, but the rest are just going to musical chairs a bunch of not good enoughs.
Hammond never won a SV% or GAA title though.
23 games wouldn’t even qualify for the those titles in a normal year.
And Hammond was BETTER…
2014–15 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 20 1 2 1411 42 3 1.79 .941
20-1-2 with a 1.79 GAA and a .941 SVP leading the Sens to a miracle playoff run, pushing Robin Lehner to the bench in the process. (For lack of a kinder term) “Bums” can go on runs.
Evidently, Nedeljkovic had a .904 SVP in his AHL career. He might well be another Hammond.
Wtf? Why does Carolina hate this kid?
Put him on waivers even
It’s often true in life that the wealthiest people are the cheapest people you’ll ever meet. Apparently Dundon is one of those.
Why did Seattle not jump on this? Him with Driedger would have been great!
I feel like the canes are prepared to make a huge push at someone like grubauer. But even then, doesn’t seem like the best trade they could have made.
Right?? Grubauer is gonna make more than Ned anyways and Ned took the Canes just as far as Grubauer took the Avs!!
This isn’t even selling high by Carolina but I guess if Bernier is signed it’ll likely be an upgrade.
How is journeyman Bernier better than up and coming Nedeljkovic?
Bernier has consistently put up good numbers on awful teams. Ned has already once cleared waivers and could be a one year wonder.
I would always go with the younger, cheaper, (better IMO) guy, but that’s just me. I don’t run a team haha.
Bernier has been with 4 different teams in 6 yrs idk if he’s the answer lol
Only reason Ned cleared waivers was EVERYONE cleared waiver this yr except like Mete lol
Bernier has also literally appeared in the same number of playoff games (9) as Ned in his career. You are trippin bro lol
He will be traded second part of the deal coming tomorrow stay tuned
I was thinking the same, Bernier is a valuable asset to the right team, the mrazek/reimer tandem is serviceable for now, or perhaps they go after a bigger fish.
No. He wont
Stevie Y! For the win!
Does Stevie Y have mob connections? Seriously he fleeced teams in Tampa, seems to have the inside on great drafting and now fleecing teams in Detroit.
As a Canes fan, my first reaction was negative. But the more I’ve thought about it, my attitude is to WAIT AND SEE what happens with Carolina and its goaltending. Surely, Bernier is not going to be the #1 goalie. Something else is going to happen, so I’m waiting for that.
As far as Ned is concerned, the Canes apparently did not have enough confidence in him being the starting goalie for the next several years. He played fairly well in the playoffs, but he had some difficulty with high-end competition. He’s 25, so the Canes may think that he’s already shown the best he’s going to be, and that just did not inspire long-term confidence.
If the Canes can do better, who will it be?
25 in goalie years is like 20-21 in player years. Goalies take WAY longer to develop and he was VERY good with his first chance at playing in the Nhl. Why give up on him now?? Makes ABSOLUTELY no sense, especially with the year the Canes just had.
Wow, this trade is gag-inducing. Horrible.
Bernier, Mrazek and Reimer…yikes.
Well, Dundon ran out of Hall of Fame broadcasters to get rid of this offseason, so guess we get dumb roster moves from now on.
Lotta bar room GMs here who seem to know more than the parties involved in the deal.
I can’t believe it, a very positive move for the Wings, haven’t had much positivity for quite a few years, can’t wait to see what other building blocks await .