*Photo from Sportsnet*
Right after Alex Nedeljkovic had a breakout rookie season for the Carolina Hurricanes, he will be donning another sweater next season. The Detroit Red Wings have acquired Nedeljkovic from the Hurricanes in exchange for the rights to G Jonathan Bernier and a 3rd round draft pick, according to Pierre Lebrun of TSN.
Nedeljkovic is a pending RFA, and the Hurricanes were said to be far apart in negotiations with him and his agent. They did not want to go to arbitration, so they came to the decision to trade him. Nedeljkovic has signed a two year deal with a $3 million AAV with the Red Wings.
Asked about the trade, Nedeljkovic said "Honestly, it was kind of like out of the blue. We really weren't expecting to get moved, so the trade itself was really kind of like, just out of nowhere. But when we heard that Detroit was interested and they wanted to make a trade, we were very excited and very happy that things worked out."
In his first full season with the Hurricanes, Nedeljkovic starred for the Hurricanes in net, starting 23 games, with a 15-5-3 record, with a 1.90 GAA and a .932 save percentage, finishing second in voting for the Calder trophy. Across parts of 4 seasons, he has a 17-7-4 record in 27 starts, with a 2.01 GAA and a .928 save percentage.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman said "We had Jonathan Bernier obviously here, was a pending UFA, and then again, had some discussions with Carolina regarding Alex and for us again, it's a chance to get a younger goaltender. The kids that we have in our system are probably a ways off from playing in the NHL, and we thought this was a good, with Thomas Greiss under contract for one more season, try to bring in a younger goaltender that has some upside and that has potential to be our starter for a number of years."
Bernier has an interesting future around the trade. The Hurricanes only get the rights to negotiate with him. He is a pending UFA, so, unless the Hurricanes can get a deal done with Bernier before July 28, he will hit unrestricted free agency and be able to sign with anyone, which would then see the trade look awful from the Hurricanes side if he signs elsewhere.
Last season with Detroit, Bernier started 23 games, posting a 9-11-1 record on a rebuilding squad, with a 2.99 GAA and a .914 save percentage. In his long career, Bernier has a 161-159-39 record in 394 games, with a GAA of 2.77 and a .913 save percentage in 13 NHL seasons, split between 5 teams.
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