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: Slumping but still in top-four role
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Kovacevic has registered just one assist over 10 contests in December.
Kovacevic is still averaging 19:44 of ice time per game this month, and he has a plus-3 rating, but his stable defense hasn't led to more offense. The 27-year-old blueliner has been a fixture on the Devils' second pairing this season. Kovacevic has a total of 10 points, 50 hits, 47 blocked shots, 36 shots on net, 33 PIM and a plus-17 rating over 37 appearances in his first campaign with the Devils.
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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: Gathers assist in win
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Kovacevic notched an assist, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in Sunday's 6-2 win over the Ducks.
The helper ended a four-game slump for Kovacevic. The 27-year-old blueliner has maintained fairly steady usage even with Brett Pesce and Luke Hughes healthy, though Kovacevic is unlikely to be a power-play option moving forward. For the season, he's produced a goal, five assists, 14 shots on net, 16 hits, 13 blocked shots, 11 PIM and a plus-5 rating over 12 appearances.
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Devils' Johnny Kovacevic: Nabs helper Tuesday
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Kovacevic produced an assist, two shots on goal and two blocked shots in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes.
Playing in a second-pairing role to begin 2024-25, Kovacevic has impressed with a goal and three assists over six contests. The defenseman had a total of 28 points across 139 games in the last two seasons combined with the Canadiens. Kovacevic has added nine hits, seven blocked shots, six shots on net, four PIM and a plus-1 rating this year. He's been an excellent fill-in, but Kovacevic is likely to see a reduced role once Brett Pesce (lower leg) is cleared to play.
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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.
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: Healthy scratch Tuesday
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Kovacevic (undisclosed) will serve as a healthy scratch against Nashville on Tuesday.
Kovacevic will be replaced in the lineup by a healthy Jayden Struble, who returns from a lower-body issue that kept him out for the last four contests. For his part, the 26-year-old Kovacevic has managed just one point in his last 12 contests, so his absence is unlikely to impact the majority of fantasy players -- though he has added 14 hits and 18 blocks over that stretch.
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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: Enters lineup, logs assist
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Kovacevic had an assist, two blocked shots and one hit in Saturday's 4-3 loss to New Jersey.
Kovacevic initiated the offense with a two-line pass to Cole Caufield, who fed Nick Suzuki for Montreal's second goal. The assist snapped an eight-game point drought for Kovacevic, who replaced Jayden Struble (lower body) after being a healthy scratch for two games. Following a steady dose of activity to start the season, Kovacevic has been a healthy scratch in 10 of the last 25 games.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Lone tally in loss
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Kovacevic scored a goal on three shots and had two hits over 15:15 of ice time in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to Ottawa.
Kovacevic gave the listless Canadiens life in third period with his sixth goal of the season, but that was all Montreal could muster in its third straight defeat, two coming at the hands of the last-place Senators. Head coach Martin St. Louis rejiggered the blue line, calling up Arber Xhekaj and inserting Kovacevic, who was a healthy scratch in eight of the last 14 games, in place of Jordan Harris.
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Canadiens' Johnny Kovacevic: Returns to lineup, scores
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Kovacevic scored a goal on one shot and had one hit over 11:23 of ice time in Sunday's 4-3 loss to the Lightning.
Kovacevic, who returned to the active lineup after two games as a healthy scratch, scored what may be the strangest goal in the NHL this season. Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault made a save and appeared to glove the puck, but the officials never blew the whistle. Tampa Bay skaters, believing there was a stoppage in play, skated to the bench while goalie Jonas Johansson skated out of his net toward the corner as goalies are wont to do during stoppages. Meanwhile, Montembeault dropped the puck to Kovacevic, who fired it from his own end into the net. The officials reviewed the goal, apparently listening for a whistle and never heard one. It was the fifth tally of the season for Kovacevic.
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.
