With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2023-24 season coming to an end without any postseason action, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 52 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from fourth-line center Noel Acciari to reserve winger Radim Zohorna.

This series is scheduled to be published every weekday leading into the second day of the NHL Draft on June 29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Alex Nedeljkovic

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Left

Age: 28

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 208 pounds

2023-24 NHL statistics: 38 games, 18-7-7 record, 2.97 goals against average, .902 save percentage, one shutout

2023-24 AHL statistics: One game, 1-0-0 record, 2.00 goals against average, .895 save percentage

2024 IIHF World Championship tournament statistics: Three games, 2-1-0 record, 2.02 goals against average, .875 save percentage, one shutout

Contract: Signed to a one-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.5 million. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 1, 2023

This season: After two rocky seasons with the Detroit Red Wings organization, Alex Nedeljkovic was eager for a course correction on his career.

That led him to sign a low-risk, high-reward contract with the Penguins on the first day of the free agent-signing period last summer.

Each side of the equation seemed to be rewarded by the union as Nedeljkovic wound up being the team’s starting goaltender in the final stretch of the regular season during a valiant but futile surge for a playoff berth.

After a strong performance in his Penguins debut — a 34-save performance during a 5-2 home win against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 14 — Nedeljkovic was injured in his second game 10 days later. During a 4-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars, Nedeljkovic embarked on something of a wild misadventure as he skated out of his crease to poke away an errant puck but wound up injuring his left knee due to a collision with Stars forward Jason Robertson during a scoring sequence.

That led to a stint on long-term injured reserve and a conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League as well as a little bit of history when Nedeljkovic scored a goal during a 4-2 road win against the Providence Bruins on Nov. 17.

Rejoining the NHL roster Nov. 19, Nedeljkovic posted his only shutout of the season that same night after making 38 saves in a 3-0 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights.

For the next three weeks, Nedeljkovic slotted into his prescribed role as the backup to Tristan Jarry before he started four of five games between Dec. 13 and 23, going 3-0-1 with a 3.12 goals against average and an .893 save percentage over that span.

Once the calendar flipped to 2024, Nedeljkovic returned to his station as Jarry’s backup over most of the next three months.

Jarry began to struggle in March and things came to a head during a 4-2 road loss to the Stars on March 22 when Nedeljkovic replaced Jarry mid-way through the contest. Two days later, Nedeljkovic started in a 5-4 road shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche. That led to Nedeljkovic replacing Jarry as the team’s starter for the remainder of the season.

With the Penguins desperate for wins and points to stay in the playoff race, Nedeljkovic started the final 13 games of 2023-24 and posted an 8-1-3 record during that span, along with a 3.05 goals against average and an .898 save percentage.

While Nedeljkovic was hardly dominant during his tenure as the undeclared starter, he was good enough to secure confidence from the coaching staff and pushed the seemingly woebegone Penguins within a point of a postseason berth.

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Early in last month’s IIHF World Championship tournament, Nedeljkovic was added to the United States’ roster and guided the team to a pair of preliminary round wins — including a shutout — before giving way to Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren as the squad’s top goaltender.

The future: Given the spark and stability Nedeljkovic provided for the Penguins when it was needed the most, it might be logical to assume he would be a safe candidate to return as a pending unrestricted free agent.

But given the hearty endorsements of Jarry offered by coach Mike Sullivan and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas coupled with Dubas pumping the brakes on the notion of re-signing Nedeljkovic following the conclusion of 2023-24, it sure looks like the goaltender who nearly saved the Penguins’ lost season will be wearing a different jersey by October.

And that’s perfectly fine. The Penguins have an enticing option in goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist who could jump to the NHL roster while Nedeljkovic could parlay his successful season into a lucrative multi-year contract.

In that respect, Nedeljkovic got what he needed by signing with the Penguins.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.