Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Has knee surgery Thursday
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Kovacevic underwent knee surgery Thursday and won't be ready for the start of training camp, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.
Kovacevic's timeline hasn't officially ruled him out for Opening Night of the Devils' 2025-26 campaign, but this update certainly doesn't bode well for the blueliner. The Ontario native is coming off a career year in which he set new personal bests in games played (81), assists (16) and points (17). Even if Kovacevic is ready for the start of the season, he may be hard-pressed to push for the 20-point threshold, especially considering he has yet to reach that mark in his career.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Likely headed for surgery
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Kovacevic is dealing with a knee injury that will probably require surgery, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports Thursday.
Kovacevic missed the Devils' last two games due to his knee injury and could be in danger of being sidelined for the start of training camp in the fall. Fortunately for the 27-year-old defenseman, he signed a new five-year deal with the Devils in March, otherwise, he'd be heading into the offseason as an unrestricted free agent with a questionable knee.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Won't play in Game 5
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Kovacevic (undisclosed) will not be in the lineup for Tuesday's Game 5 versus Carolina, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.
Kovacevic suffered his undisclosed injury in Game 3 on Friday and will now be shelved for his second straight contest. Considering the 27-year-old defenseman is stuck in a 14-game point drought, his absence is unlikely to impact the majority of fantasy managers. Still, with Luke Hughes (upper body) and Brenden Dillon (lower body) also sidelined, the Devils have had to dig into their depth on the blue line.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Ruled out Sunday
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Kovacevic (undisclosed) will not play Sunday in Game 4 against Carolina.
Kovacevic will miss Sunday's contest after suffering an injury early in Friday's Game 3. With Kovacevic, Luke Hughes (upper body) and Brenden Dillon (lower body) all sidelined, Dennis Cholowski is expected to slot back into New Jersey's lineup on the third pairing.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Questionable for Sunday
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Kovacevic (undisclosed) is questionable for Sunday's Game 4 matchup versus Carolina, Mike Morreale of NHL.com reports.
Kovacevic sustained an injury early into Friday's 3-2 double-overtime win over the Hurricanes in Game 3. He hasn't earned a point in three outings this postseason while posting two shots on goal and eight hits. If Kovacevic is out for Sunday's game, Seamus Casey or Dennis Cholowski could draw into the lineup.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Ruled out against Detroit
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Kovacevic has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Red Wings for rest purposes, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.
Kovacevic appeared in each of the Devils' first 81 games of the year, recording a goal, 16 assists, 102 hits, 99 blocked shots and 72 PIM while averaging 19:49 of ice time. He'll get a night off to close out the regular season, but he should be back on the ice when New Jersey begins postseason play.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Grabs helper in loss
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Kovacevic notched an assist, two shots on goal, four blocked shots and a minus-2 rating in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Flames.
Kovacevic snapped a four-game point drought with the helper. He has four assists over 10 outings in March, as well as a plus-1 rating, 12 blocked shots and 11 hits. The 27-year-old blueliner is not a standout on offense by any means, but he's handled a top-four role well for much of the campaign. Kovacevic is up to a career-high 17 points with 67 shots on net, 90 hits, 91 blocks, 51 PIM and a plus-12 rating over 70 contests.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Lends helper in Philadelphia
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Kovacevic logged an even-strength assist, one hit and a plus-1 rating in 21:39 of ice time in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Flyers.
After inking a five-year, $20 million contract extension with New Jersey on Friday, Kovacevic is quickly proving his worth -- he has recorded a primary assist in back-to-back games since signing the deal. The right-shot blueliner has provided one goal, 15 helpers and a plus-12 rating over 65 appearances in 2024-25. Kovacevic is currently skating with newcomer Brian Dumoulin on the second pairing.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Ends drought with helper
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Kovacevic notched an assist, two shots on goal and three hits in Saturday's 3-1 win over Utah.
The helper snapped a 13-game slump for Kovacevic, who posted a minus-3 rating, 21 hits, and 17 blocked shots in that span. The 27-year-old blueliner has been a moderately effective shutdown defender in 2024-25. He has recorded 14 points, including a career-high 13 assists, while adding 58 shots on net, 79 blocked shots, 82 hits and a plus-12 rating across 61 appearances. He needs just two points to set a new personal best.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Records helper in overtime loss
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Kovacevic notched an assist and two shots on goal in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs.
Kovacevic remains more of a shutdown defenseman, but he has three helpers over 10 outings since the holiday break. The 27-year-old blueliner is up to 13 points through 47 contests, matching his production from 62 games last season. He's added 44 shots on net, 58 hits, 62 blocked shots, 35 PIM and a plus-14 rating in 2024-25 while playing in a top-four role.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Notches assist Monday
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Kovacevic picked up an assist and blocked two shots in Monday's 3-2 win over the Kraken.
Kovacevic helped out on Paul Cotter's second-period tally. The 27-year-old Kovacevic has just three assists to go with 21 hits and 24 blocked shots over 16 contests since the start of December. That highlights his skills as a physical, top-four defenseman, but his limited offense won't help most fantasy managers. Overall, he has 12 points, 37 shots on net, 54 hits, 57 blocked shots, 33 PIM and a plus-16 rating over 43 outings, so he should be able to top his career high of 15 points from 2022-23 with the Canadiens.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Gathers helper in win
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Kovacevic notched an assist and two blocked shots in Friday's 4-2 win over the Hurricanes.
Kovacevic entered the holiday break on a nine-game point drought before snapping that slump Friday. The 27-year-old defenseman led all Devils skaters with 22:56 of ice time in this contest and has routinely seen top-four minutes this season. He's up to 11 points, 36 shots on net, 50 hits, 49 blocked shots, 33 PIM and a plus-17 rating over 38 contests. Kovacevic's modest across-the-board production limits his fantasy value to deep formats.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Two helpers in Monday's win
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Kovacevic pocketed two assists while adding three shots on net, three hits and a plus-3 rating in Monday's 5-2 win over the Predators.
The 27-year-old blueliner hadn't had a multi-point performance since the first game of the season, but Kovacevic had a hand in the Devils' first and last tallies of the night Monday, setting up Erik Haula in the first period and Justin Dowling for an empty-netter in the third. Kovacevic is on track for a career-best campaign, and through 24 appearances he's collected a goal and eight points with 33 hits, 28 blocked shots, 25 shots on net, 20 PIM and a stunning plus-15 rating.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Scores goal, assist
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Kovacevic scored a goal on one shot and registered an assist in Friday's 3-1 victory over the Sabres.
Kovacevic is already paying dividends for the Devils after they traded a fourth-round pick to Montreal for the defenseman back in June. While fantasy players probably shouldn't be expecting over a point per game out of the 27-year-old blueliner, he could challenge for the 20-point threshold this year after having previously topped out at 15 points back in 2022-23.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Dealt to New Jersey
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Montreal traded Kovacevic to the Devils in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick Sunday.
Kovacevic spent the last two seasons in Montreal, totaling nine goals and 28 points in 139 contests. The 26-year-old averaged 16:31 of ice time with 83 blocked shots and 74 hits during the 2023-24 season. He should compete for a bottom-four role with the Devils.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Can't finish contest
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Kovacevic sustained an undisclosed injury Saturday versus the Lightning, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports.
Kovacevic left the game in the third period and did not return. It's unclear what is the nature of his injury or if he'll be available to play Tuesday versus the Predators. With Jayden Struble (lower body) also questionable for Tuesday, the Canadiens may need to make a roster move to have a full complement of defensemen.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Scratched Thursday
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Kovacevic was a healthy scratch Thursday against Carolina.
Jordan Harris returned from a lower-body injury, and it was Kovacevic taking a seat instead of Jayden Struble, who skated with Harris on the same pair versus the Hurricanes.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Sets up blue line partner
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Kovacevic logged an assist, one shot on net, one blocked shot, one hit and two PIM over 20:50 of ice time in Saturday's 3-2 shootout win over Buffalo.
Kovacevic and blue line partner Jayden Struble combined to produce Montreal's first goal. Struble passed to Kovacevic in the neutral zone and continued toward the net, where he was in position to redirect Kovacevic's return feed past Devon Levi midway through the second period. The helper was the first of the season for Kovacevic, who also has four goals. He's logged all five points in the last 11 games, as Montreal's blueliners continue to be a significant source of offense.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Bright spot in loss
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Kovacevic scored a goal on one shot in Thursday's 5-1 loss to Florida. He added one blocked shot and two hits to his line over 16:48 of ice time.
Kovacevic moved in from the point to spoil Sergei Bobrovsky's shutout bid in the third period for his fourth goal of the season. The tally established a new career high for the defenseman, who scored three times in 77 games last year. All four goals have come in the last seven games, after Kovacevic began this season without finding the scoresheet over the first 16 contests. Montreal's blue line is responsible for 28 percent of the team's offense -- 18 of 64 goals scored.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Logs first point
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Kovacevic had a goal on one shot and blocked one shot over 21:27 of ice time in Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Golden Knights.
Kovacevic filled space in the slot and was in position to take advantage of a blocked shot to rifle his first goal. In fact, it was his first point since a tally Apr. 8 of last season. The stay-at-home blueliner is typically not involved on offense -- he has 16 points over 98 career games in the NHL.
