Johnathan Kovacevic doesn’t remember how long his knee surgery lasted on May 8, 2025. What he does remember is arriving at the facility early that morning and not leaving until around 1 p.m.
The surgery became necessary after he suffered a torn ACL during his first shift of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes. Remarkably, the veteran defenseman still finished the opening period before the New Jersey Devils medical staff stepped in.
“I came in for the intermission, and they checked it out,” he said. “They told me, ‘We don't want to send you back out; it is the ACL.’”
At the time, Kovacevic had no idea how serious the injury actually was. While he had played through pain during the first period, an eight-month recovery never crossed his mind.
“Most injuries are two to three months, so that is what I thought,” Kovacevic said. “It (wasn’t ideal) but I thought next season I would be fine. I went to bed that night and searched how long a recovery is for an ACL, and I was like, what? That scared me a little bit.”
In the days that followed, Kovacevic reached out to trusted medical professionals to better understand the rehabilitation process and gather as many opinions as possible. Through those conversations, he learned that while ACL recoveries are lengthy, they are generally more straightforward than many other hockey-related injuries.
Eventually, the 29-year-old returned to the ice, carefully progressing through each stage of his rehabilitation. Before rejoining full practices, he was frequently seen skating with other injured players, including Marc McLaughlin, as he worked his way back into game shape.
“The whole recovery was obviously a challenge,” Kovacevic shared. “I had never been through a surgery like that before. It moves quickly at the beginning, but then slowly the longer it goes. The improvements aren't as noticeable the farther out you get from surgery. We have a great staff here that helped me, but it was a challenge.”
After months of rehab, Kovacevic made his 2025-26 season debut on Jan. 11, 2026, against the Winnipeg Jets. He logged 18:14 of ice time and recorded an assist in his return.
Although he was back in the lineup, feeling like himself again proved to be another hurdle.
“I kind of thought after those eight months I would come right back and be myself again,” he said. “It is not the time off that makes you rusty. It is trusting your knee, and trusting your leg. You have to develop your speed again, and it is important to trust your edges, your gap, and your space. That was hard for the first month or so.”
Even while working through those challenges, simply hearing the puck drop again was a moment he had been waiting months to experience.
“You are just happy to be playing again, but then it comes to a point where you don't want to just be playing; you want to be playing at your best,” he said. “Playing at your 100 percent, and it was tough to be giving that right at the beginning.”
Kovacevic remembers the exact moment he finally felt like himself again. It came during a game against the Washington Capitals in Washington, D.C., on what appeared to be an ordinary defensive play. In an instant, everything clicked, and for the first time since returning from injury, the defenseman felt completely confident in his game.
“For some reason, that time it just clicked,” he said with a smile. “I trusted my feet, and once I got back to the bench I thought to myself, I am back. It was such a small defensive play, but that play is the one that sticks in my head where I felt myself again.”
The Ontario native appeared in 34 games last season, and while it wasn't enough time to fully recapture the form he displayed alongside Jonas Siegenthaler the year before, the season ultimately became a valuable learning experience that should benefit him as his career progresses.
"Yeah, there were some tough times at the beginning, but I'm grateful for it because it taught me a lot," he said. "I learned a lot about having the right mindset and the psychology that goes into it."
Kovacevic will enter the second season of the five-year, $20 million contract he signed on Mar. 7, 2025. With a full offseason to train and prepare, there is reason to believe he can return to the form that helped him and Siegenthaler emerge as one of the NHL's top shutdown defensive pairings.
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