Alex Nedeljkovic is eligible to come off of long-term injured reserve on Nov. 19 versus Vegas. When asked if being available for that game is his goal, the native of Parma, Ohio – which is just outside of Cleveland – replied with a laugh, “The Browns game is Sunday, so might have to reschedule.”
All jokes aside, the goaltender would much prefer to be in uniform for the Penguins instead of watching his hometown team host the Steelers.
“I'd like to be back for Sunday, obviously. I think we're trending in the right direction,” he said. “But it’s something where we're gonna have to talk to (head athletic trainer Chris Stewart) and the doctor, just make sure we're on the right page and we're not rushing stuff, making sure everything's 100% before we say yes.”
Nedeljkovic joined his teammates for the first time on Wednesday after a week-and-a-half of skating on his own, and said he felt good getting back into the fire after being in a controlled environment for those individual sessions.
“So, I think that was our next step, was we wanted to get into some things that were kind of out of our control,” he said. “Some odd-man rushes, guys kind of going all over the place, and just kind of rapid fire. So, I thought it was a good day.”
Nedeljkovic sustained the lower-body injury in his last start on Oct. 24 versus Dallas, when he decided to go for an aggressive pokecheck that led to the Stars’ third goal in their 4-1 win, and to the netminder being on the shelf.
“When I came flying out there, the guy made awkward contact with my knee. That was the incident that caused it,” he said.
That night, Nedeljkovic had said he made the wrong decision on that play, and he needed to do a better job of letting the play come to him. And in the three weeks since that night, his biggest takeaway from watching Tristan Jarry – who leads the NHL with three shutouts – is how simple his play has been.
“He’s rolling, he's feeling it right now, and everything looks smooth and effortless. I think that's kind of what we talked about a little bit prior to the injury,” Nedeljkovic said. “Just like, when I'm doing my thing, everything's smooth, controlled, and not necessarily making a lot of those big, crazy plays.”
There’s obviously never good timing for an injury, especially for a new addition like Nedeljkovic, who had been looking forward to re-establishing his game at this level after a couple of difficult years following a terrific rookie season.
“I would just say for me personally – being my first year here, still getting to know everybody – it was just kind of tough being out a couple of weeks,” said Nedeljkovic, who stayed home to rehab while the team was in California for nine days. “You're not on the road with the guys, which is where you do a lot of bonding and camaraderie and whatever else. You build that and you build relationships that way. So, I think it was tough timing in that aspect.”
The Penguins are glad to have him back in the mix, as he and Magnus Hellberg - who started the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and got the callup when Nedeljkovic went down - have certainly increased Pittsburgh’s goalie depth. Even with Nedeljkovic out for an extended period of time, his teammates have always mentioned him whenever they’ve talked about the goaltending, as overall, he looked strong in the two starts he's gotten.
They’ll be relying on that depth in the next few days, as the Devils are in town on Thursday before a back-to-back set over the weekend, playing in Carolina on Saturday before hosting Vegas on Sunday.
“I think all three goalies have been playing really good so far,” Jarry said the other night. “It's good when we're all rolling, it's good when we can all help the team. I think that's the best thing about what's happening right now.”
OTHER PRACTICE UPDATES:
John Ludvig, who was also injured in that game against Dallas, practiced in a full capacity for the first time today. Mike Sullivan said the plan for the 23-year-old defenseman is that he’ll go to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League for a conditioning stint, and get a game or two as part of the continuation of his rehab.
Evgeni Malkin missed practice since he wasn’t feeling well, “so we told him to stay home and get some rest,” Sullivan said. “Hopefully, he’ll be feeling better tomorrow.”
Finally, Matt Nieto was given a maintenance day.
