Alex Nedeljkovic‘s time with the Pittsburgh Penguins likely coming to an end
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins are keeping a close on AHL goaltender Joel Blomqvist during his playoffs, and that will go a long way in determining if they feel he’s ready to make the jump next season. Tristan Jarry is under contract for four more years and Alex Nedeljkovic is a pending UFA.
GM Kyle Dubas at their end of season press conference.
“He’s an unrestricted free agent. He’s been very vocal about his views (wanting to return). As I said to him yesterday, we have a situation where we have a young goaltender that’s also pushing, Joel Bloomqvist,” Dubas said. “We’re going to use this next stretch of weeks, the last two games with (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins) … and then really (important), the playoffs with Wilkes. How does Joel play? Can he assert himself at that level? And then we’ll have more information on how we want to go ahead with our goaltending.”
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Even if the Penguins decide Blomqvist isn’t ready for next season, they may not want to offer Nedeljkovic a multi-year deal as Blomqvist could be ready the following year. Nedeljkovic would likely be able to get more term on the open market.
No formal talks between the Penguins and Sidney Crosby‘s agent
Rob Rossi of The Athletic: There haven’t been any formal contract extension talks between Sidney Crosby’s agent Pat Brisson and Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas. Both sides would like to see a deal get done. He’s eligible for a contract extension after July 1st, and it’s expected they’ll reach a deal shortly after.
It’s not known how much longer Crosby wants to play, but his extension is expected to be for more than one season. The Penguins are believed to want him signed until his eventual retirement but are willing to go short-term according to team sources.
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Elliotte Friedman speculated it could be a two or three-year extension at $10.5 million per season. A short-term deal would give Crosby more flexibility on how long he wants to play for. Any deal is a 35+ deal so if he retires before the contract is up, the cap hit stays on the books.