from Chip Alexander of the News & Observer,

Waddell and the Canes traded goalie Alex Nedeljkovic to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. Again, it was a money thing. Nedeljkovic was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and seemed more than willing to go to arbitration and let a mediator determine his salary.

Instead, Nedeljkovic was traded for the rights to Red Wings goalie Jonathan Bernier and a 2021 third-round pick. Just like that, a goalie who was a 2021 Calder Trophy finalist and a fan favorite was dealt away, leaving a number of Canes fans confused and irked that the guy known as “Ned” was leaving.

“The Ned thing is tough,” Waddell said. “Ned played good here. We got in a situation, he’s been in the organization for five years, we’ve watched him for five years. He played good here, he had 20-something good hockey games. We just felt that with the situation that we were in, he had [arbitration] rights, we couldn’t work out a deal and maybe we need more experienced goalies in here.

“We made a decision as an organization. Everybody was involved — goalie coaches, coaches, ownership, everybody. We didn’t sit down on an island and make this call. You watch a player and you find out what he’s all about. He got on an unbelievable hot streak this year. We can’t deny that. He’s such a great kid and you’re happy for him and wish him nothing but success. But we also thought that going forward maybe we wanted to go with a more veteran-looking goaltending duo.”...

Will a Mrazek-Bernier tandem eventually be the “veteran-looking” duo Waddell mentioned? Maybe.

“We’re wide open,” Waddell said. “We’re approaching it that we think it’s an opportunity for all these guys because we don’t have a starting goalie. We’re approaching this open-minded.”

more plus the Canes trying to sign Dougie Hamilton before UFA day on July 28th...