On June 20, the Pittsburgh Penguins re-upped the contract of their backup netminder, Alex Nedeljkovic. He signed a two-year deal price $2.5 million per season, rewarding him for his strong work between the pipes behind starter Tristan Jarry. Mixed, that tandem will make $7.875 million towards the wage cap by the 2025-26 season.
A 28-year-old backup, Nedeljkovic confirmed flashes for the Penguins. What does this signing imply for them?
Nedeljkovic Is a Excessive-Finish Backup
For the Penguins, Nedeljkovic was nice as a backup. He had a .902 save proportion (SV%), 2.97 goals-against common (GAA), minus-1.2 objectives saved above common (GSAA), and minus-3.9 objectives saved above anticipated together with an 18-7-7 document in 38 video games. These numbers won’t look the most effective, however most backups do worse—with a borderline starter-level workload, he took care of enterprise.
In his first 18 video games with the Penguins, Nedeljkovic had a .919 SV%, a 2.54 GAA, 2.0 GSAA, and 4.6 GSAx. All of it went a bit downhill for him afterward, however the level stands that he was an excellent netminder for a good portion of the season. If Pittsburgh is getting this model of their backup, there must be no considerations in anyway.
Match with Pittsburgh
Assuming he and Jarry can keep wholesome, the Penguins ought to have good goaltending on the very least. That was one among their strengths in 2023-24 regardless of lacking the playoffs, even when their play in objective did regress as a complete because the season went on. With two competent netminders, they in all probability shouldn’t be able the place they’re in a pickle as a result of they’ll’t make a save over the course of the season. Whereas goaltending tends to be considerably unpredictable except for the actually elite starters within the league, Pittsburgh must be assured with what they’ve.
With a bit of bit over $10 million in cap area to spend within the 2024 offseason and not using a single main free agent to deliver again, the Penguins have some flexibility. They will add a top quality roster participant or some depth all through the lineup to finish their two-year postseason drought—that is the primary time that they’ve missed the playoffs in back-to-back campaigns in Sidney Crosby’s 19-year profession in Pittsburgh.
