On Sunday afternoon, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Detroit Red Wings had placed goalie Alex Nedeljkovic on waivers.
Nedeljkovic had just rejoined the Red Wings at practice on Sunday after completing his two-week conditioning stint in the AHL with the Grand Rapids Griffins, posting a record of 3-2-2, a goals-against-average of 2.30, and a save percentage of .920.
The 27-year-old has struggled to find his game at the NHL level this season, as in nine appearances, Nedeljkovic has a record of 2-4-2, a goals-against-average of 4.09, and a save percentage of .880. Nedeljkovic’s play led the Red Wings to the decision to claim Magnus Hellberg off of waives back in November, who, in five appearances with Detroit, has a record of 2-3, a goals-against average of 2.81, and a save percentage of .896.
It is apparent that the Red Wings needed to decide who would back-up Ville Husso quickly, as players such as Filip Zadina and Robert Hagg are close to returning from injury, and carrying three goalies is less than ideal. Derek Lalonde has already confirmed that both Husso and Hellberg will each get a start in Detroit’s next two games as they start a back-to-back in Colorado on Monday afternoon and then will travel to Arizona Tuesday.
Nedeljkovic is in the last year of a two-year contract worth $3 million annually. It will be interesting to see if teams at the bottom of the standings, such as Chicago or Anaheim, would take a flyer on a talented goalie who has struggled this season.
