SAN JOSE – The San Jose Sharks addressed arguably their most significant area of need Tuesday as they acquired goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2028 third-round draft pick.

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Nedeljkovic is entering the final year of a two-year, $5 million contract that carries a cap hit of $2.5 million. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent when the contract expires.

The Sharks were hoping to add a goalie who could compete with rookie Yaroslav Askarov for playing time and bolster their defense corps, particularly on the right side. Last season, the 29-year-old Nedeljkovic played in 38 games with the Penguins and had a 14-15-5 record and a .894 save percentage.

The Sharks also signed free agent forwards Adam Gaudette and Philipp Kurashev and defenseman John Klingberg.

The Sharks did not have another goalie with NHL experience under contract after they traded Vitek Vanecek to the Florida Panthers in March and elected not to re-sign Alexandar Georgiev.

General manager Mike Grier said it was vital that the team find another experienced goalie to push the 23-year-old Askarov and provide some stability to the sport’s most important position.

The Sharks allowed a league-high 3.78 goals per game last season and their .881 team save percentage was third-worst in the NHL.

There were a handful of goalies who were unrestricted free agents, including Ilya Samsonov, Alex Lyon, Anton Forsberg, and Dan Vladar. But the Sharks elected to trade for the 6-foot-3 Nedeljkovic, who, in 179 NHL games with Carolina, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, has a 74-60-27 record and a .903 save percentage with nine career shutouts.

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