Detroit Red Wings 2021-22 goaltending tandem is something to watch
By Tyler Kotila
The Detroit Red Wings have made some recent moves to up their goaltending situation ahead of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft and free agency. General Manager Steve Yzerman did what he does best and made some moves to switch things up.
The Detroit Red Wings made a move with the Carolina Hurricanes to send Jonathan Bernier’s rights and draft capital to Carolina for the young netminder, Alex Nedeljkovic. This move was truly a fleecing by Yzerman, who absolutely robbed Carolina.
Besides Nedeljkovic, the Red Wings have veteran netminder Thomas Greiss who is still under contract and will be returning for the second year of his two-year deal. He’s a solid veteran netminder who played the 1A/1B game in 2020-21 with Jonathan Bernier quite well.
He’s part of the reason the Red Wings are moving in the right direction and piecing together some serviceable goaltending. As the Red Wings continue on, the help of Nedeljkovic is going to be crucial for their success with netminders.
The Detroit Red Wings have a great goalie tandem for the 2021-22 season.
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The thing that really stands out about this goalie tandem is the entrance of Nedeljkovic into the mix.
He was a Calder Trophy finalist who immediately signed a two-year, $6 million contract extension after being acquired.
He’s going to be stellar in the crease and part of the reason the Red Wings are going to make great strides in 2021-22.
Nedeljkovic is coming off a stellar season where he played 23 games while posting a 15-5-3 record while maintaining a .932 save percentage and having just a 1.90 goals-against average.
Nedeljkovic will be looking to continue his tear in a larger role with the Red Wings during the 2021-22 season. With a more than capable backup in Greiss, there’s plenty to like with this team’s goalie tandem.
In 2020-21, Greiss played in 34 games where he had an 8-15-8 record that was accompanied by a .912 save percentage and a 2.70 goals-against average. He’s been serviceable in the crease and will help create a good tandem with Nedeljkovic.
Given the looks of the team’s goaltending in recent years, bringing in Nedeljkovic looks like it’s really going to give this tandem some life and help the team better the performance in the goals-against category.
Besides that, the team opted to take Sebastian Cossa after trading up in the first round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, leaving even more hope for the future of Red Wings’ netminders. The Red Wings are not going to see Cossa for some time, but in the meantime, Nedeljkovic should have a good hold on things, especially with the help of Greiss, a seasoned veteran.
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The Red Wings should be excited for the future of their netminders, but for now, this goalie tandem is going to have the Red Wings in good hands.