In a previous post, we looked at the two forwards that the Sharks picked up during the free agency frenzy that was a little less frenzy and a little more tedium, at least for Sharks fans. This go around, we’ll take a look at who the Sharks picked up on the backend, specifically the defenseman, John Klingberg, and the goaltender, Alex Nedeljkovic.
Sharks find familiar face in Nedeljkovic
Let’s start with goaltender Nedeljkovic. The Sharks knew going into the free agency that the team needed to pick up a goaltender to work tandem with Yaroslav Askarov, who is expected to begin his rookie season with the Sharks this upcoming season. Going into free agency, there were a few acceptable solutions, including Dan Vladar, who served as a good tandem partner to the Calgary Flames’ Dustin Wolf in his first season, and there was Jake Allen, who was solid in the net with the New Jersey Devils.
There were also a large handful of previous Sharks goaltenders, including James Reimer, Vitek Vanecek, Alexander Georgiev, Georgi Romanov and Kaapo Kahkonen. It wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring.
The Sharks seemed to have another target, an already signed goaltender in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ backup Alex Nedeljkovic. The choice makes some sense. Nedeljkovic was someone the Sharks’ coaching staff was familiar with. He played with the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL in 2017-19 and half of the 2019-20 season with the Checkers. Surprise, surprise, San Jose Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky became an assistant coach with the Checkers in 2018 and was named the head coach in the 2019-20 season. In other words, he’s pretty familiar with Nedeljkovic, which is probably why he zeroed in on the goaltender.
So what are the Sharks getting in the goaltender?
Nedeljkovic split the netminding duties Tristan Jarry and Joel Blomqvist last season. Of the trio, Nedeljkovic received 38 of the 82 starts, two more than Jarry. He finished with a 14-15-5 record, a 3.12 goals against average and a .894 save percentage, better than his other two battery mates.
While his numbers aren’t thrilling – you can’t exactly jump for joy over a .894 save percentage – he was on a bad team that did not qualify for the playoffs. Looking at some of his advanced numbers on Money Puck, Nedeljkovic was 40th in the league in goals saved above expected, at just a minus-1.0.
That’s better than his fellow teammates, Blomqvist (minus-4.7) and Jarry (minus-4.7) as well as Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner (minus-1.5) and Calvin Pickard (minus-9.1). Reminder that Skinner and Pickard made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals proving you can outscore your problems.
It’s also a step up from what we had in net last season, especially at the end of the season when we finished with Alexandar Georgiev, who, according to Money Puck, ended with a minus-17.9 goals saved above expected.
The point is this is an upgrade in net.
Klingberg a puck-moving defenseman on the right-side
As for Klingberg, the sample size is small. The defenseman had limited playing time last season, albeit on a defensively loaded Edmonton Oilers team.
Klingberg was also battling with injury, but the defenseman says that he’s healthy and ready to show the league that he is capable to returning to his play a few years ago when he was a dynamic offensive defenseman. The 32-year-old is not too far removed from a time when he was one of the top power play players in the league, as you can see from his Evolving-Hockey regularized-adjusted plus-minus chart.
After having hip resurfacing surgery and ample recovery time, Klingberg feels he can get back to that type of game. The Sharks will give him every opportunity to do so this season, which is likely some of the reason he chose to sign with San Jose. Klingberg, as it stands now, will get a chance to anchor the blueline on the first power play unit and he will get top-four defensive minutes this season, something he was not afforded in Edmonton.
His contract is a little more unusual in that it has a no-trade clause until Jan. 30, 2026 when it turns into a 14 team no trade list. Presumably, that means Klingberg can then eliminate all of the teams out of playoff contention and only be traded to the teams he thinks have a shot at making the postseason.
Conclusion
While they’re not headline-making signings, both moves by Grier are strong deals that make the Sharks a better team. Signing Nedeljkovic gives the Sharks a solid goaltender to share the net with Yaroslav Askarov and will help push the young netminder to get better. What’s more, he can be a trade piece at the deadline that a contending team would consider.
Klingberg has a chance to show the rest of the league that he’s still capable of playing top four mintues and the point on a top power play unit, hopefully doing for him what the Sharks did for Jake Walman last season. If Grier can turn the contract into another first-round draft pick at the trade deadline, that’s a solid piece of business.
These are two strong moves by Grier that make the Sharks better now and at the trade deadline.
