2024-25 Season in review: Alex Nedeljkovic

The season that was for the Penguin goalie

Vitals

Player: Alex Nedeljkovic
Born: January 7, 1996 (age 29 season)
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 203 pounds
Hometown: Parma, Ohio, USA
Catches: Left
Draft: Round 2, Pick 7 (No. 37 overall) in the 2014 NHL draft by the Carolina Hurricanes
Acquired: Signed in free agency ahead of the 2023-24 season.
2024-25 Statistics: 38 appearances (35 starts), 14-15-5 record, .894 save percentage, 3.12 goals against average, 1 shutout
Contract Status: Nedeljkovic is signed for one more season before he is set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2025-26, carrying a $2.5 million cap hit for next season

Monthly Splits

via Yahoo!

Nedeljkovic was injured at the start of the season but jumped right in playing in 11 out of the team’s 14 games from his debut on October 20th – November 16th. He saw his playing time drop in December, and in March through April, during stretches when the Penguins turned back to Tristan Jarry as the go-to starter.

Story of the Season

Nedeljkovic started the season sidelined by an injury he suffered during preseason action. The Penguins split the first six games of the season between Tristan Jarry and rookie Joel Blomqvist.

Jarry had lost his starting job by the time Nedeljkovic returned. Nedeljkovic went on to make seven starts over a nine-game span between Oct. 20 and Nov. 7.

Unlike his performance at the end of the 2023-24 season, when he played well enough to help lead the Penguins within sight of the playoffs, Nedeljkovic’s numbers over that stretch (2-3-2 record, .883 save percentage, 3.1 goals against average) weren’t enough to let him hold onto his starting job.

Nedeljkovic returned to a regular starting role from January to early March, when Jarry went down for a conditioning stint in the AHL. That span was highlighted by Nedeljkovic becoming the first goalie in NHL to record a goal and assist in the same January game against the Buffalo Sabres.

The Pens still ultimately ended the season as the 2023-24 campaign began: with Jarry as the starter, and Nedeljkovic as his backup.

Regular season 5v5 advanced stats

Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 35 goalies in the NHL who qualified by playing a minimum of 1,700 minutes.

Average goal distance: 20.24 feet (22nd)
Shots against/60: 28.02 (11th)
Saves/60: 25.28 (16th)
Save percentage: .902 (26th)
High-danger shots against/60: 7.72 (5th)
High-danger saves/60: 6.25 (5th)
High-danger save percentage: .810 (23rd)

Those last three numbers arguably sum up Nedeljkovic’s 2024-25 season: the Penguins’ struggling defense put him a lot of high-danger situations, and Nedeljkovic was often unable to answer.

Charts n’at

Via Advanced Hockey Stats and NHL Edge

Highlights

Questions to ponder

Neither Jarry nor Nedeljkovic were effective as a go-to starter for the Penguins last season. Can any of those options return for a stronger run in 2025-26, or will the Pens roll with a new option in net next fall?

Dubas indicated in April that Blomqvist, as well as minor-league starter Sergei Murashov, are going to get shots at the job in training camp.

“Can he take what he’s done here and then continue to stack it going into next year, and double that pressure with the fact that there’s two young guys that are going to be pushing?” Dubas said about Nedeljkovic on 93.7 The Fan, per Audacy’s Jeff Hathhorn. “That was the message we gave to Tristan and Ned. So this isn’t going to come as any surprise. Those guys are going to be given every opportunity to win jobs, as well.”

Ideal 2025-26

Nedeljkovic returns to the form he displayed for the Pens at the end of the 2023-24 season, and the Penguins get reliable season-long goaltending for the first time in multiple years.

Bottom line

The Penguins’ defense regularly exposed Nedeljkovic last year, and he wasn’t able to answer consistently enough to keep the starting job. He may have to audition for his roster spot in training camp this fall.