During this past off-season, the New Jersey Devils acquired defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick. At the time, this was viewed as simply a move to improve the Devils' defensive depth.
However, there is no question that Kovacevic proved to be more than just that during his first season with the Devils. The 28-year-old defenseman had himself a nice breakout season and emerged as an important part of the Devils' blueline in the process.
In 81 games this past season with the Devils, Kovacevic scored a goal and set new career highs with 16 assists, 17 points, 99 blocks, and 102 hits. Overall, the right-shot defenseman provided a bit of everything for the Devils this past season and was easily one of their top additions from last off-season because of it.
Due to his impressive play this season with the Devils, Kovacevic earned himself a five-year, $20 million contract extension back in March. With this, he will be a long-term part of the Devils' blueline as they look to become legitimate contenders.
It will now be fascinating to see what kind of season Kovacevic puts together in 2025-26 after his strong first season as a Devil from here.
Ex-Devils Defender Should Be Nice Addition For New Team
Earlier this off-season, the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils">New Jersey Devils</a> did not re-sign defenseman Brian Dumoulin. While he proved to be a solid trade deadline addition for the Devils, it was not necessarily surprising that they let him walk. This is because they already had plenty of depth on their blueline and had other needs to address with their cap space.
Photo Credit: © John Jones-Imagn Images