Alex Nedeljkovic

Alex Nedeljkovic was born January 7, 1996, in Parma, Ohio — a detail that made his eventual move to the Detroit Red Wings carry a certain resonance, given that the franchise plays in his home state. The Carolina Hurricanes selected him in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft, 37th overall, and the path from that selection to a full-time NHL role stretched across several seasons of minor-league development before a breakthrough that nobody in the league's front offices had quite anticipated.

Nedeljkovic made his NHL debut with Carolina in the 2016-17 season, appearing in a single game. His next appearances came in 2018-19 and 2019-20 — still just scattered starts. Then came 2020-21. In a shortened season, Nedeljkovic posted a 1.90 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage over 23 games, going 15-5 with three shutouts. That stretch drew wide attention: he was named a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie, earned a spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team, and had been put on waivers earlier that same season — unclaimed — to get him to the taxi squad. His first NHL shutout came on February 20 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a game InGoal Magazine later used as the foundation for his Pro Reads debut, examining two separate low-to-high passing plays from that very performance ^[1].

Shortly before the 2021 playoffs, Nedeljkovic appeared on episode 120 of the InGoal Radio podcast, a conversation InGoal later described as candid and widely embraced by the goaltending community ^[2]. That appearance led directly to an extended Pro Reads video session — more than an hour of footage review — that became the basis for ten separate Pro Reads installments published by InGoal over the following year and a half.

That summer, the Hurricanes traded him to Detroit. The move gave the Red Wings a goaltender from Ohio, and Nedeljkovic stepped into the No. 1 role. His first full season with Detroit in 2021-22 covered 59 games — the most of his career to that point — producing a 20-24 record, a 3.31 GAA, a .901 save percentage, and four shutouts. The following season, 2022-23, he appeared in only 15 games, going 5-7 with a 3.53 GAA.

Through all of that, InGoal continued to publish its Pro Reads series, with Kevin Woodley working through the original Carolina footage and offering a window into Nedeljkovic's decision-making on a range of scenarios — rush chances against Nashville and Florida, a 2-on-0 against Nashville, sharp-angle plays against Columbus, breakaways, and scramble saves ^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]}. One theme that ran through multiple entries was his approach to angle over depth on lateral pushes. In Pro Reads 2, Nedeljkovic broke down a rush against Nashville in which he targeted the far post rather than pushing straight across — a prioritization of angle that InGoal illustrated with side-by-side path comparisons ^[11]. On a 3-on-1 that collapsed into a 2-on-1 against Florida, Nedeljkovic described reading the play as early as the opposing team's breakout in their own zone: "It's all about determining which player is most dangerous without the puck," he said ^[5].

In an entry focused on a Aleksander Barkov rush, Nedeljkovic explained his rationale for holding his edges even when Barkov moved away from the net: "I kept my feet and trusted myself enough that if he shoots the puck, I can make that save … it's not going to be as good of a shot." He also articulated his sequencing on lateral movement: "I get the middle of the net first. Everybody wants to have good depth but if you are not on the proper angle it doesn't matter how far out you are, you are still going to give something up. You always want to be centered on the puck and then work yourself out" ^[6].

A separate InGoal article from October 2022 focused specifically on his approach to the Reverse-VH, drawing on both his Pro Reads commentary and direct quotes ^[12]. Nedeljkovic described the inside-leg anchor as "the key to everything. Keeping it 1. Anchored and 2. Above the goal line." He also shared a practical checkpoint he built into his pre-practice warm-up: "When I do warm-ups before practice I look for, especially when we do this post work and the RVH, is how much I have marked up the ice inside the net. It really shouldn't be any because my foot should never be going inside of the net." He credited working through this detail with fixing a consistency problem that had affected his post-to-post movement earlier in his career ^[12].

After Detroit, Nedeljkovic signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2023-24 he went 18-7 in 38 games with a 2.97 GAA and a .902 save percentage. The following season, 2024-25, he appeared in 38 games again, going 14-15 with a 3.12 GAA, a .894 save percentage, and one shutout.

He is now with the San Jose Sharks, wearing number 33. Through 40 games of the 2025-26 season he carries an 18-14-4 record, a 2.87 GAA, and a .896 save percentage. His NHL career totals across 219 games stand at 92 wins, 74 losses, and 31 overtime losses, with a career 2.97 GAA, a .902 save percentage, and nine shutouts.

InGoal Magazine has covered Alex Nedeljkovic in one podcast appearance, ten Pro Reads, and one InGoal article. The full Pro Reads archive, covering everything from his post-play evolution to rush reads and desperation saves, is available to InGoal subscribers ^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][1]}.