As Alex Nedeljkovic tells it, the Red Wings were hard on the Hurricanes last season. They were a pest, a problem, persistent pain. "They gave us fits," he said. But Nedeljkovic isn't really one to talk. He gave fits to the NHL. The undersized 25-year-old goalie showed up in February and started stopping everything thrown his way. He wound up leading the league in save percentage and goals against average. He nearly won Rookie of the Year. In a few months, Nedeljkovic proved he could play in the NHL.
Now, can he stay in the NHL in Detroit? Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings traded for Nedeljkovic on Thursday with hopes he can be "our starter for a number of years."
"It’s great to hear that," Nedeljkovic said Friday. "Obviously Steve is one of the greatest players to play the game, and things have been going in the right direction for this team since he's been in charge. Just very excited to get an opportunity to play, and hopefully play a lot, and try to get this organization back to the winning ways of not too long ago."
Nedeljkovic grew up in Cleveland when the Wings were laying claim to the NHL. He played juniors in Plymouth as their grip on the league was fading, and played in Flint the year they relinquished it for good. That was 2016, two years after Nedeljkovic had been drafted by the Hurricanes, one year before his NHL debut. It wasn't until 2021 that he broke through.
In 23 games last season, Nedeljkovic posted a .932 save percentage and a 1.90 goals against average. He was similarly stingy in the playoffs. He was especially stingy in two games against Detroit, with Yzerman watching from above: 58 saves on 61 shots. Nedeljkovic is small for his position at 6'0, but he's quick and athletic enough to make up for it. Two-time All-Star Jimmy Howard was 6'1.
"You need the opportunity to succeed, so getting an opportunity there was key," Nedeljkovic said of his breakout season. "But just playing my game and believing in myself. I’ve always believed that I can play in this league and be an elite goalie."
The Wings haven't had truly elite goaltending, over the course of a full season, since Jimmy Howard made a run at the Vezina in 2012-13. That's the last time they won a playoff series. The club's decline was inevitable, but its rise isn't promised without a goalie it can trust. The pipeline doesn't offer much hope, certainly not anytime soon. A future is there to be forged. Detroit's net could be Ned's.
If it were up to him, Nedeljkovic would have kept the one he had. He went into this offseason "looking forward" to working out a deal with the Hurricanes as a restricted free agent. But he and his agent had one idea of his value, and the club had another. Just as well. Nedeljkovic has been spending his offseasons in Michigan for the past 10 years. His wife is in med school at MSU. He was on the golf course Thursday when his agent called with the news.
"The trade itself was really just out of nowhere," he said. "But when we heard that Detroit was interested and they wanted to make a trade, we were very happy that things worked out."
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Nedeljkovic knows what he's coming into. He just got dealt from a division winner to a division doormat. He also knows where it might be going. He signed a two-year deal with Detroit with two goals in mind: to cement himself in the NHL and to help the Red Wings regain their grasp on contention.
He's at the right point in his career to do it. He's in the right frame of mind. He said his success last season "just reinforced that confidence I had in myself." Nedeljkovic is joining a core of players in Detroit pursuing the same things he is, including his offseason workout buddy Dylan Larkin. We know Nedeljkovic can play. If he proves he can stay, he might as well star.
"I just hope I can be another piece in the process here," he said. "Get back to the winning ways and bring some more Stanley Cups back to Detroit."