Nedeljkovic was born in Parma, Ohio and played minor hockey in nearby Cleveland before moving to the Detroit area to play for Belle Tire, and then to Plymouth of the Ontario Hockey League, which selected him in the sixth round (No. 123) of the 2012 OHL draft.

He went 19-2-2 with a 2.28 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 26 games and was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team in 2012-13.

In 2013-14 he was 26-27-7 with a 2.88 GAA and .925 save percentage in 61 games with Plymouth and was named the best goalie in the OHL. He also helped the United States win the 2014 IIHF World Under-18 Championship, with a 1.86 GAA and .908 save percentage in seven games.

The Hurricanes selected Nedeljkovic in the second round (No. 37) of the 2014 NHL Draft, and he spent two more seasons in the OHL, with Plymouth, Flint and Niagara. He agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract with the Hurricanes on March 27, 2015, and made his professional debut with Florida of the ECHL late in the 2014-15 season.

He moved to pro hockey full-time in 2016-17. He split the season between Charlotte of the American Hockey League and ECHL Florida but made his NHL debut Jan. 17, 2017, making 17 saves in relief of Cam Ward in a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Nedeljkovic spent most of the next three seasons in the AHL, playing one game with the Hurricanes in 2018-19 and four in 2019-20. He made his first NHL start and got his first win against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 23, 2019, making 24 saves in a 5-2 victory.

Between his brief NHL appearances, Nedeljkovic was dominating in the AHL. In 2017-18 he tied for the league lead with 31 wins and scored a goal. The next season he won the Baz Bastien Memorial Award as the league's top goalie after he led the league with 34 wins and a 2.26 GAA in 51 games. He then had a 2.34 GAA and .916 save percentage in 15 playoff games to help Charlotte win the Calder Cup as AHL champions.

Nedeljkovic didn't play his first game of 2020-21 until Feb. 8, 2021, but emerged as Carolina's best goalie as the Hurricanes won the Discover Central Division. In his final nine starts of the regular season he was 7-1-1 with a 1.55 GAA and .945 save percentage. He finished the season 15-5-3 in 23 games, and among NHL goalies to play at least 20 games he was first in GAA (1.90) and save percentage (.932), and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy, voted to the top rookie in the League. He's the second Carolina/Hartford Whalers player to be a finalist for the award, along with Jeff Skinner, who won it in 2010-11.

Nedeljkovic was the Hurricanes' starter when the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs began, and in nine games he was 4-5 with a 2.17 GAA, .920 save percentage and one shutout.

However, after the season Nedeljkovic was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for goalie Jonathan Bernier and a third-round pick in 2021 NHL Draft on July 22. That same day, he signed a two-year contract with the Red Wings.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• OHL All-Rookie Team (2013)
• OHL First All-Star Team (2014)
• AHL First All-Star Team (2019)
• NHL All-Rookie Team (2021)
• Traded to Detroit by Carolina for Jonathan Bernier and a 3rd-round pick in 2021 NHL Draft, July 22, 2021.