DetroitRedWings.com’s Matthew Falkenbury evaluates the Red Wings’ goaltending in an article that “resets” the roster for the 2021-2022 season today:
On July 22, the day before the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Detroit Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman got the offseason goalie carousel started with a trade that surprised the hockey world.
The Red Wings acquired 25-year-old goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick and the free-agent rights to goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Detroit then followed up minutes later by announcing that it had signed Nedeljkovic to a two-year contract.
“Obviously, we have high hopes for Alex based on his performance this year in Carolina” Yzerman said after the trade on July 22. “We’re pretty excited about it. He did very well this year. Everyone in our organization is familiar with him from his local ties, playing junior, so we know his character, his work ethic, his competitiveness, and watching him play this year, we felt it was a good opportunity to get somewhat of a younger goaltender with still some upside and can help us win more games.”
The young goalie burst onto the scene last season as he compiled a 15-5-3 record, 1.90 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in 23 games for the Central Division-champion Hurricanes.
He helped lead Carolina past the Nashville Predators in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and finished third in Calder Trophy voting as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.
