Red Wings Acquire Goalie Nedeljkovic From Carolina

The Detroit Red Wings acquired goalie Alex Nedeljkovic from the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday in return for a third-round draft pick and the rights to pending unrestricted free agent goalie Jonathan Bernier.

Confirming the Detroit Red Wings have acquired Alex Nedeljevic from the Carolina Hurricanes. Third round pick and Bernier’s rights going back.

— Kevin Allen (@ByKevinAllen) July 22, 2021

The draft pick was Vegas’, acquired in the 2018 Tomas Tatar trade.

Nedelkjovic was a pending restricted free agent but, per his agent, immediately signed a two-year deal with Detroit carrying a $3 million salary cap hit.

The 25-year-old former Plymouth Whaler and Flint Firebird had a breakout season last year, putting up a .932 save percentage and 1.90 goals against average after taking over the crease when former Red Wing Petr Mrazek went down with an injury.

I love this move.  I think the Red Wings were going to pay around $3 million for a goalie to replace Bernier no matter what and giving up a third rounder makes it worth it to ensure that it’s someone who could be in Detroit for a long time going forward.  Nedeljkovic is immediately the Red Wings’ goalie of the future due to a complete lack of any prospects in the pipeline.