TRAVERSE CITY — Alex Nedeljkovic has fond memories of playing at Traverse City: Specifically, the 2017 prospects tournament, when his Carolina Hurricanes topped the Detroit Red Wings.
This year, Nedeljkovic is at Centre Ice Arena in a Wings uniform, acquired in July by general manager Steve Yzerman. It’s an intriguing development for the 25-year-old, who is looking to build on last season’s Calder Trophy-finalist performance.
“I think it’s a great opportunity,” Nedeljkovic said Friday, the second day of training camp. “There’s an opening. When the trade happened, the writing was on the wall — it’s an opportunity for me to come in, hopefully play a lot of games, potentially we can split and go 50-50. Whatever happens from there, happens. That’s all you can ask for, is the opportunity to play games and make the most of it.”
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It was an interesting trade, with the Hurricanes giving up a goalie who posted a 1.90 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage in 23 games for, basically, a 2021 third-round pick. The Wings also sent the one player who consistently performed well for them the last two years: Jonathan Bernier. But Bernier’s contract was up — he wound up signing with the New Jersey Devils — and he was already eight years Nedeljkovic’s senior. The deal addressed the then-meager goaltending depth in the organization. (That category was further boosted in the draft as Yzerman selected Sebastian Cossa in the first round.) Nedeljkovic, a restricted free agent who had been unable to find common ground with the Hurricanes, signed a two-year, $6 million deal with the Wings. Now he has a chance to demonstrate he can be a part of the Wings’ rebuild.
Early expectations are that the Wings will split starts between Nedeljkovic and Thomas Greiss, who had a disappointing start but solid finish last season, the first of a two-year contract the 35-year-old signed last October.
“I think both are going to have an impact on our season,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “I certainly think that both will get looks early. We’ll get through the exhibition season and see how each one is playing. We have enough back-to-backs certainly, and as we watch the exhibition season, we’ll get a plan in place where we have guys in position to start and get their feet underneath them. And then as the year plays out, the guy that plays the best will play, and if they both play great, they’ll both play.”
The six days the Wings are spending in Traverse City are easing Nedeljkovic’s transition.
“You’ve got a lot of new faces to learn and a lot of faces to finally actually meet, and then on top of that, you have to learn a new system, and get acclimated and build new chemistry,” he said. “So these few days up here are going to be immensely beneficial for everybody.
“The intensity has been high, the speed has been good. The pace has been great. You can tell guys have been itching to get going. Summer skates are great — they’re fun, they’re relaxed and easy going. But there’s nothing like an actual practice.”
The trade couldn’t have been more welcome for Nedeljkovic; Although he’s from Parma, Ohio, he has lived in the Metro Detroit area for the past decade, and his wife, Emma, is enrolled in nursing school at Michigan State.
“We were very happy with how things turned out and couldn’t be happier to start the next chapter of my career here,” he said. “This is a top-class organization. They are not cutting corners. It’s an Original Six team, they know how to do it. They’ve had a lot of success in the past. Just looking forward now to the challenge and hopefully getting us back having success during the year and getting back to winning Stanley Cups.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.