Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on the 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Porky Palmer Eclipsed This Podcast episode, on the Pittsburgh Penguins and how interesting it’s going to be to see how they handle their goaltending situation this offseason.
** NHL Rumors.com transcription
Friedman: “… and the other guy there who has been a huge part of this has been (Alex) Nedeljkovich.”
Marek: “Oh yeah.:
Friedman: “And Nedeljkovich is a really interesting guy, because this is another one who had, he played really well in Carolina, and they let him go because they just didn’t like what his Arb case was going to be.
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So remember, they didn’t qualify him and they let them go. And Nedeljkovich is a guy Jeff, what thing does he have to battle?
Marek: “Size.”
Friedman: “Size matters. I always try to tell people size doesn’t matter but they don’t listen to me Jeff and I get told, ‘size matters.’ And that’s the thing, he faces the size prejudice.
But here, it’s gonna be a really interesting offseason in Pittsburgh in goal because around the deadline, Pittsburgh was looking to move one of their goalies. And they liked the kid they’ve gotten the American Hockey League, (Joel) Blomqvist. That kid’s gonna play I’ve heard.
And there were some rumors earlier in the year that Pittsburgh had something going with another team on (Tristan) Jarry. It was denied to me, but other people telling me there’s more there than I kind of knew or, or could uncover.
But right now, you know, and Nedeljkovic is a free agent, and I do think there were teams that called Pittsburgh about him at the deadline, but now, especially if they make the playoffs, how do you let this guy walk?
Marek: “No you can’t. No, you can’t.”
Friedman: “Jarry is a, is a really talented guy and he’s a really good goalie. But he, he’s he’s, he’s always hurt. Like the thing is, if you’re gonna be a true number one in this league, you’ve, you’ve got to be dependable, right? And he just battles the injuries.
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But Nedeljkovic has been huge for them. He’s another major reason they’re back in the race. But again, he still faces that size prejudice. And I’m curious to see how Pittsburgh is going to handle all this.”
