Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Alex Nedeljkovic to 2-Year Contract – Hockey Writers – What the Penguins Are Doing

On June 20, the Pittsburgh Penguins extended the contract of their backup netminder, Alex Nedeljkovic. He signed a two-year contract worth $2.5 million per season, rewarding him for his solid work between the pipes behind starter Tristan Jarry. Combined, that tandem will make $7.875 million in salary for the 2025-26 season.

A 28-year-old player, Nedeljkovic has shined for the Penguins. What does this signing mean to them?

Nedeljkovic Is A Top-Rated Backup

For the Penguins, Nedeljkovic has been great as a backup. He had a .902 save percentage (SV%), a 2.97 goals-against average (GAA), a minus-1.2 goals-against-average (GSAA), and a minus-3.9 goals-against-average and an 18-7-7 record 38 games. Those numbers may not seem like the best, but most backups are doing worse—with a borderline startup-level workload, he was taking care of business.

In his first 18 games with the Penguins, Nedeljkovic had a .919 SV%, 2.54 GAA, 2.0 GSAA, and 4.6 GSAx. It all went downhill for him after that, but the point remains that he was a very good netminder for most of the season. If Pittsburgh gets this version of their backup, there should be no worries.

Fits Pittsburgh

Assuming he and Jarry can stay healthy, the Penguins should have good goaltending at the very least. That was one of their strengths in 2023-24 even though they missed the playoffs, or their goalscoring performance declined completely as the season progressed. With two talented strikers, they probably shouldn't be in a pickle because they can't save during the season. While scoring is often somewhat elusive without the league's best starters, Pittsburgh should be confident with what it has.

With a little more than $10 million in cap space to spend in the 2024 offseason without one big free agent to bring back, the Penguins have some flexibility. They can add a quality player or some depth to the rest of the roster to end their two-year postseason drought—the first time they've missed back-to-back campaigns in Sidney Crosby's 19-year career in Pittsburgh.