New Jersey Devils player profile: Johnathan Kovacevic

The 27-year-old is coming off a quietly strong season with the Montreal Canadiens.

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Headlined by the signings of Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon, the New Jersey Devils made drastic improvements to their defense core this off-season.

Those weren’t the only additions made on the backend, though. Tom Fitzgerald also swung a deal on the eve of free agency, acquiring Johnathan Kovacevic from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 4th round pick in 2026.

Let’s take a closer look at how he fared in his final season with the blue blanc et rouge and look ahead to his first with the Devils.

2023-24 review

Kovacevic is coming off a strong two-way campaign. He tallied six goals and 13 points in 62 games, producing at an 18-point pace while mostly playing 3rd pairing minutes.

He led all Canadiens defensemen in 5v5 scoring chances, and rebounds created, per 60 minutes. He’s not someone who will sit idly and be afraid of getting involved in the opposing third of the ice.

His defensive game was also competent. Of the Canadiens’ nine most used defensemen at 5v5, Kovacevic ranked 3rd in shot suppression, 4th in expected goals against, and posted a blueline-leading +10 goal differential.

His defensive success at evens translated to the penalty kill. He finished with a GAR of +1.5 while undermanned, which tied him with Esa Lindell for 24th among defensemen.

Brett Pesce(!), John Marino(!!), Mikhail Sergachev, and Miro Heiskanen were among the defensemen tucked behind Kovacevic in GAR on the PK.

Kovacevic’s total GAR of +5.6 ranked him 77th among defensemen across all gamestates – a mark only Kaiden Guhle bested on the Canadiens.

Kovacevic is not someone you want playing against high-end competition – he posted a 44.7 CF% in such minutes this past season – but he’s plenty capable of winning vs. lesser opponents.

He posted a ~50 CF% (keep in mind the Canadiens were not good) and a +10 goal differential against middle-to-low tier opponents, according to PuckIQ.

2024-25 outlook