The offseason for the Pittsburgh Penguins has officially begun with general manager Kyle Dubas re-signing one of the organization’s pending unrestricted free agents (UFA), goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic on June 21. He re-signed with the Penguins for two years at an average annual value (AAV) of $2.5 million a season. While this move seems to shore up the goaltender position for the 2024-25 season, could it also have a bigger ripple effect on the rest of the offseason for the organization?
Ned’s Bounce Back 2023-24 Season
After not being re-signed by the Detroit Red Wings last offseason, the 29-year-old Nedeljkovic signed with the Penguins on a one-year deal instead. He earned the backup spot behind Tristan Jarry after beating out fellow offseason signee Magnus Hellberg.
After a down season with the Red Wings (and the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League), Dubas and the rest of the organization hoped for a big bounce back from the former Carolina Hurricane, and he showed up in a big way for the Penguins. Nedelkjkovic’s play this season ended up being a very welcomed sign, largely due to Jarry’s play being a bit inconsistent.
His strong play in between the pipes throughout the season helped the Penguins keep themselves in the playoff hunt, and from March 24 through the finish of the regular season, Nedeljkovic was the goalie of record in all but one game in that stretch of 13 games. In the 12 games he factored in on the box score, he finished with an 8-1-3 record and almost helped lead the team to the playoffs. It was clear that he had earned the trust of head coach Mike Sullivan to man the crease down the stretch for the Penguins. Overall, he finished this season with an 18-7-7 record and a 2.97 goals-against average (GAA).
What it Could Mean Going Forward
With Nedeljkovic playing as strong as he did this season for the Penguins, it seems like Dubas made an easy decision to try to bring him back into the fold for next season. But the real question is, what does it mean going forward, and what else could transpire the rest of the offseason?
After signing his extension last offseason (five years, $5.375 million AAV), Jarry had a solid season overall, but as mentioned before, he did play inconsistently at times. With Nedeljkovic back with the organization, there is a chance that if Jarry struggles next season, Sullivan could turn to Nedeljkovic again. Besides that comes the outside chance that Dubas considers moving Jarry, whether he can find a team to take on his contract, and whether it would truly benefit the Penguins in the long run is another story.
Another player who is affected by the re-signing of Nedeljkovic is one of the organization’s top prospects, Joel Blomqvist. In his first full season with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins, the netminder carried the load for the team and looked every bit of the top goalie in their pipeline. His strong play ended up being rewarded with AHL All-Star honors, and some believed there was an outside chance he could make his way to the NHL roster based on what Dubas decided to do at the goalie position this offseason.
Related: Pittsburgh Penguins 2023-24 Final Prospect Rankings
With Nedelkjkovic returning for presumably the next two seasons, Blomqvist will find himself backstopping the “Baby Pens” for the time being and hopefully getting even more experience and confidence in his game in the AHL before making the jump to the NHL. There is, of course, always a chance that if he plays strong enough, Dubas could give him a chance to show what he can do on the biggest stage.
Time Will Tell if More Comes From the Move
While you can always read into what a team does and think there is a chance that more could be on the horizon, the re-signing of Nedelkjkovic could be exactly what it seems to be on the surface: shoring up the backup position with a netminder who showed he can carry more workload if need be. It is very early on in the offseason for the non-Stanley Cup Finals playing teams, and time will only tell if there will be more ripples felt from this signing.
