Sharks acquire Alex Nedeljkovic from Penguins
The San Jose Sharks have acquired goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a third round draft pick in 2028.
The Penguins have acquired a 2028 third-round draft pick from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
Pittsburgh now has 28 draft picks over the next three NHL drafts, including 16 picks in the first three rounds.
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With this deal, the Sharks land a goalie to play with Yaroslav Askarov for the 2025-26 season. They were without a second NHL-calibre goalie for the year after dealing Vitek Vanecek to the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline and letting Alexandar Georgiev walk to unrestricted free agency, so they get a solid one in Nedeljkovic.
Meanwhile, the Penguins get a future asset in a draft pick to give them another bullet in the chamber while starting their rebuild. While they probably would have liked to move on from Tristan Jarry’s contract, Nedeljkovic was the more feasible and valuable asset to move. It frees up a roster spot for Joel Blomqvist to play at the NHL level full time next season, unless Pittsburgh makes another move to bring in a goalie.
Nedeljkovic is in the final year of a two-year deal with a $2.5 million cap hit, and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
After establishing himself as the starting goalie in Pittsburgh in 2023-24, Nedeljkovic saw his game take a step back in 2024-25 with a 14-15-5 record, an .894 save percentage, one shutout and -0.92 5v5 goals saved above expected.
Nedeljkovic also played a game in the AHL with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, while on loan for a conditioning stint early in the 2024-25 season. He allowed three goals on 33 shots for a .917 SV% in a winning effort.
Nedeljkovic was a second-round pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2014 NHL Draft out of the OHL. He made his NHL debut when he played a game in relief in the 2016-17 season, and after playing five more games over the next three seasons, he finally got a consistent NHL gig in the 2020-21 season. He was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings following that season, where he spent two seasons before going to free agency and signing with the Penguins, where he had spent the past two seasons.