Penguins A to Z: Alex Nedeljkovic will remain in the battle

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 57 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 24, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Alex Nedeljkovic

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Left

Age: 29

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 203 pounds

2024-25 NHL statistics: 38 games, 14-15-5 record, 3.12 goals against average, .894 save percentage, one shutout

2024-25 AHL statistics: One game, 1-0-0 record, 3.00 goals against average, .917 save percentage, zero shutouts

Contract: In the first year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.5 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2026.

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 1, 2023

This season: Given how he battled to and helped the Penguins finish 2023-24 on a strong note, Alex Nedeljkovic was one of the leading sources of optimism for the club entering 2024-25.

But much like his team, Nedeljkovic stumbled out of the gate and never got up to speed.

In Nedeljkovic’s case, an injury suffered during a preseason game Sept. 30 landed him on injured reserve to open the season, costing him the first five games of the campaign.

After going to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League for conditioning purposes and claiming a 4-3 home win against the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Oct. 18, Nedeljkovic was back in the NHL lineup by Oct. 20.

As starter Tristan Jarry went on something of a respite (resulting in him being assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for conditioning purposes Oct. 26), Nedeljkovic essentially served as the Penguins’ top goaltender for two weeks, playing in seven games and posting a 2-3-2 record, a 3.07 goals against average and an .883 save percentage.

Vancouver goal!

Scored by J.T. Miller with 14:49 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Brock Boeser.

Vancouver: 3
Pittsburgh: 2#PITvsVAN #Canucks #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/1R2oHFD1M3

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 27, 2024

Jarry returned by Nov. 9 and Nedeljkovic resumed a workload commensurate with his station as the team’s backup goaltender for most of the next two months.

When Jarry’s struggles led to him being waived — and, once he cleared, returning to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton — Nedeljkovic became the top option in a platoon with prospect Joel Blomqvist in mid-January.

That led to arguably the most spectacular moment of the season for the Penguins during a 5-2 road win against the Buffalo Sabres when Nedeljkovic became the first goaltender in NHL history to record a goal and an assist in the same contest (to say nothing of the 40 saves he made in the victory).

Empty net goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Alex Nedeljkovic with 02:42 remaining in the 3rd period.

Buffalo: 2
Pittsburgh: 5#PITvsBUF #SabreHood #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/kqOTxx9Gdm

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 18, 2025

Any hopes that triumph would lead to any sustained success never materialized, however. While Blomqvist struggled considerably, Nedeljkovic was mostly inconsistent. Between Jan. 17 and March 7, Nedeljkovic appeared in 14 games and posted a 5-7-1 record, a 2.84 goals against average and one shutout over that span.

Perhaps his low moment of the season came during a 5-4 home overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 27. Pulled after allowing three goals on only 14 shots, Nedeljkovic had a very public blowup at his bench, yelling at teammates and coaches at his bench.

"He wants to win. That’s raw emotion. I have no problem with that. Quite honestly, I thought he inspired the group to want to compete for him."

On Alex Nedeljkovic getting mad and the Penguins getting a win:https://t.co/bOOBhpJhRk pic.twitter.com/SMLYUJ5gQw

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) February 28, 2025

Jarry was back on the NHL roster in early March and reclaimed the top role as Nedeljkovic resumed his backup position. Over his final five games, Nedeljovic was 2-1-0 with a 2.80 goals against average and a .911 save percentage.

The future: In his season-ending media availability on April 21, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas suggested Nedeljkovic, Jarry, Blomqvist and valued prospect Sergei Murashov would be in an open competition for the NHL roster in the 2025 training camp.

Just based on him being under contract and generally being a good citizen in what have been trying times during his tenure with the franchise, Nedeljkovic would seem to have a strong case to remain with the club.

At the same time, those attributes make him a candidate to be moved off the roster in a trade for a future asset at some point next season.

No matter where he’s stationed, Nedeljkovic will remain in the battle.