Now that the trade freeze is over, things have taken off once again. The Detroit Red Wings have traded for goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Jonathan Bernier and a third-round pick. In addition, Nedeljkovic signed a two-year extension worth, $6 million. The contract carries a salary-cap hit of $3 million.
‘Canes get a third-round pick and the rights to pending UFA Jonathan Bernier. ‘Canes haven’t signed Bernier yet. https://t.co/F12iTRmK3n
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 22, 2021
Alex Nedeljkovic Traded To Detroit
Alex Nedeljkovic had a coming-out party for the Hurricanes this season. Originally the Hurricanes were going with Petr Mrazek and James Reimer. But Nedeljkovic threw his name into the mix this season. Since teams were allowed to carry three goalies because of COVID, Nedeljkovic saw time in between the pipes. And for a while, he was the number one goalie for the Hurricanes with their three-headed monster. On the season, Nedeljkovic had a record of 17-7-4 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .928 save percentage. With those numbers, Nedeljkovic was a finalist for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year.
The playoffs were a different story. After winning the first round against Nashville, he struggled against Tampa Bay Lightning in round 2. He lost the starting job to Mrazek only to get it back. In the playoffs, he had a record of 4-5 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. There was talk of Nedeljkovic staying in Carolina, but they could not agree on an extension. Carolina was offering him around $3.5 million. But they did not want to qualify him. So instead, he gets traded to Detroit to sign for less money.
In return, they get the rights to Jonathan Bernier along with a third-round pick. Bernier is a free agent and the Hurricanes also have Mrazek and Reimer as free agents too. It will be interesting how the Hurricanes proceed.
Going Forward
This is an interesting move, to say the least from a Carolina perspective. He was the goalie of the future for Carolina. Now, the Hurricanes have three unrestricted goalies and will have to sign two of them.
For Detroit, they get an up-and-coming goalie of the future to go with their rebuilding team. They also have a solid backup in Thomas Greiss so the Red Wings are set at the position.
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