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: Dishes assist Friday
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Kovacevic tallied an assist, two shots on net and two hits in Friday's 6-1 loss to Winnipeg.
In his first game since signing a five-year, $20 million contract extension with New Jersey, Kovacevic had a strong performance offensively with the primary helper on Dawson Mercer's goal. The 27-year-old Kovacevic is up to 14 assists, 15 points, 60 shots on net, 85 hits and 81 blocks in 64 games this season. With Dougie Hamilton (lower body) sidelined for an extended period, Kovacevic should see an increased role at even strength. Kovacevic's assist Friday helped him tie his career high in points. While he still has room to improve offensively, Kovacevic has some value in category leagues and is an all-around blueliner who should be a staple with New Jersey for the next few seasons.
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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: Tallies two helpers versus Philly
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Kovacevic picked up two assists while logging a plus-2 rating in 19:28 of ice time in Tuesday's 9-2 win over the Flyers.
Kovacevic assisted on a pair of Brendan Gallagher goals in the second and third periods of Tuesday's blowout win. The apples snapped a 10-game pointless streak for Kovacevic, who is up to a meager six goals and 11 points through 59 games on the season. Despite his strong performance against Philadelphia, it wouldn't be surprising to see Kovacevic exit the lineup if and when Kaiden Guhle (upper body) is ready to return.
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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.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Finishes on top pair
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Kovacevic blocked two shots and recorded a hit over 22:52 of ice time in Thursday's 4-3 overtime win against Columbus.
Kovacevic began the game on the second pair -- his usual role -- but was elevated to the top pair to play with Mike Matheson at the start of the third period. Kovacevic, a third-year blueliner, logged a season-high TOI and was entrusted to kill off a Brendan Gallagher penalty late in regulation that spilled into OT. Kovacevic is considered a defensively responsible partner that may be a better fit with Matheson than Justin Barron. With David Savard (hand) slated to be out until early December, Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis is looking for an appropriate partner for Matheson. He first tried the similarly skilled Barron but eventually landed on Kovacevic.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Logs assist in loss
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Kovacevic had an assist and two blocked shots over 16:19 of ice time in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Senators.
Kovacevic jumped on an Ottawa turnover in his own end and perfectly fed Nick Suzuki for a breakaway goal. The rookie blueliner has points in three straight games (one goal, two assists) and is up to 10 points through 54 contests. Montreal's defensemen have picked up the scoring pace in the last week, potting five goals and dishing seven assists over the last three games.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Adds assist in win
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Kovacevic had an assist, two hits and one blocked shot over 19:57 of ice time in Friday's 5-2 win over the Flyers.
Kovacevic picked up the secondary helper on newcomer Chris Tierney's goal with five seconds remaining in the first period. It was the second consecutive game with a point for Kovacevic, who has nine over 53 contests.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Snares assist in win
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Kovacevic had an assist, two shots on goal and one blocked shot over 18:23 of ice time in Sunday's 6-2 win over Edmonton.
Kovacevic helped out on the first of Jordan Harris' two goals. It was his first point in 11 games and just the seventh of the season. He and rest of the blueline crew received extra TOI due to Arber Xhekaj (undisclosed) leaving the game.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Pots first NHL goal
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Kovacevic scored a goal on two shots and blocked two shots in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Kraken.
Kovacevic's first NHL tally opened the scoring at 12:56 of the first period. He wouldn't be the only player in the game to achieve that milestone, as Shane Wright responded less than three minutes later. Kovacevic now has a goal, three assists, 33 shots on net, a plus-5 rating, 26 hits and 24 blocked shots in 23 appearances this season. He'll likely continue to see bottom-four minutes, though it seems he's mostly solidified a place in the lineup.
