Alex Nedeljkovic

[JagrBomb]

I acquired him recently, wondering what the community's thoughts on him are. He killed it at the WJC, and is doing very well in the OHL playoffs.

He doesn't have much blocking his path to a starting position with Ward potentially leaving and Lack likely not ending up as a starter. He's got the pedigree, drafted 37th overall which is pretty high for a goalie these days.

I wouldn't pay a huge price to land him given how hard it is to judge goalie prospects, but I think the talent and opportunity is certainly there. Could be a good prospect to acquire now while you can still get him relatively cheap.

[Eskimo Brother]

He should be one of the higher ranked goalie prospects within reason. As you said, they are very hard to predict, so he's probably not worth overpaying for, but he does have a good starter potential as an upside.

Next season he may still not be worth too much, but after that I could definitely see him being a worthy own.

[Noddes55]

I'm from the niagara region, and been to a few of the icedogs playoffs games. He's been lights out. Great poise, great lateral movement. I def see him in the nhl, but with goalies development prob looking at 3-4 years before he's fantasy relevant. But he could really be a good one. And as said above not much competion in his way in the carolina system.

[Pit Bulls]

I've watched "Ned" since he broke in with the Plymouth Whalers as a 16 yr old and proceeded to steal the starting goalie position on a very good team (that year). Since then, Ned has continued to develop, even though on less than stellar teams in Plymouth followed by Flint. After his trade to Niagara this past season, he continues to impress, but on a much better team.

One thing to keep in mind - Mike Velouchi (spelling?) drafted Ned into the OHL, was his coach in Plymouth and encouraged Carolina to draft Ned in the 2nd round (Plymouth and Carolina had the same owner at the time). Now Velouchi is part of the management team in CAR and is a huge fan of Ned's.

I expect Ned to continue his development for the next couple of years in the AHL, but it also wouldn't surprize me if he makes it in the NHL sooner than later. A lot will depend on what CAR does with Ward - re-sign him or pursue a trade/FA goalie. CAR's team is not very good right now so even if Ned makes it to the NHL, he can only do so much and CAR needs to improve significantly before he becomes fantasy revelant.

[Axeman33]

He's still a highly regarded prospect but for goalies, I find it's never really easy to judge them until they actually start playing pro hockey. Once they gets to the AHL, we start to see just how good they are and their future starts to clear up a lot more.

[finminer]

It's been mentioned in other threads that Carolina is likely to sign or trade for a goalie, and who knows what happens with Lack and Ward. Ned won't be ready for a good 3 years yet, so this would give him time to develop. This doesn't change anything, but just trying to give a realistic time horizon. Next stop, AHL, which means I will get to see him a bit next season.

[Goldendelicious]

Talent is there. Opportunity is there. Timeline is still not in his favour. He (like all other goalies) is not going to make the jump directly to the NHL. Give him 3-4 years in the A and let him out battle Callum Booth and he'll be ready to assume a role in the NHL. Until then, don't expect anything but spot starts in emergency call-up situations.