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Carolina Hurricanes: Alex Nedeljkovic Didn’t Come From Out of Nowhere

By Matthew Nidiffer

May 30, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) comes out onto the ice before the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
May 30, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) comes out onto the ice before the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /
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May 30, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) comes out onto the ice before the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
May 30, 2021; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) comes out onto the ice before the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game one of the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

The Carolina Hurricanes, despite struggling for years to find stability in the crease, have seemingly had the answer to their goaltending woes this entire time; or, at least since 2014. Rookie goaltending phenom Alex Nedeljkovic, despite seemingly coming from out of nowhere to attain tremendous NHL success thus far in his young career, has actually been wildly successful at every single level he’s been deployed in.

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2014, to a Canes fan, seems both so close and yet so, so far in the past. The Carolina Hurricanes of 2014 were a very, very different team than the one that takes the ice and surges after home wins today. The 2013-14 season saw the Canes finish 7th in the Metropolitan Division with 83 points in the standings. Their leading scorer, with 61 points (21g, 40a), was Eric Staal. The leading goalscorer for the Canes that year was Jeff Skinner (33g). The only other 20+ goalscorer on the roster that year was (wait for it), Alexander Semin (who, funnily enough, just received his last paycheck from the Carolina Hurricanes a couple weeks ago).

On the other side of the coin, newcomer to the Canes Anton Khudobin manned the crease alongside Cam Ward; Khudobin’s stats that year were fantastic. Ward’s – a far cry from competent – were the worst he’d turned in thus far as a Carolina Hurricane.

The Canes’ abysmal 2013-14 season would land the Canes the 7th, 37th, 67th, 96th (via Vancouver), 97th, 127th, and 187th overall picks; only one of them would be used on a goaltender.

In the 2nd Round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, with the 37th overall pick, the Carolina Hurricanes would select Parma, OH native Alex Nedeljkovic of the Plymouth Whalers in the OHL.

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