When the New Jersey Devils traded a draft pick for a relatively unknown defenseman in Johnathan Kovacevic, most fans were fine with the acquisition. He was a player who got himself into the lineup for the Montreal Canadiens, but he felt like he was going to be, at best, a seventh defenseman for the Devils.
New Jersey already had set starters in Dougie Hamilton, former second-overall pick Simon Nemec, and newly-signed Brett Pesce. Their right side was stacked. On top of that, they had Nick DeSimone re-signed after a decent stretch with the Devils last season. The Devils had depth on the right side, which was a big deal.
Then, pieces started to fall. Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce both missed the first month of the season. Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey struggled, with Nemec dealing with an injury of his own. That gave Kovacevic an opportunity, and he got paired with Jonas Siegenthaler. They turned into the best shutdown pair of defensemen in the league.
According to Money Puck, Kovacevic and Siegenthaler have been on the ice for 748 minutes together. They are ninth in the league for pairs in regards to xG%. They are dominating other teams and helping them turn into offense. Sheldon Keefe will usually put him out there against the best lines in hockey, and they do well more times than not.
Many have called Kovacevic a Siegenthaler merchant, but that’s not necessarily true. Of course, they are better together, but do we remember Siegenthaler last season? He had a rough year, and Kovacevic helped him become the player he is today. According to Natural Stat Trick, Kovacevic has allowed 12 goals in 291 minutes without Siegenthaler. Meanwhile, Siegenthaler allowed eight goals in 174 minutes without Kovacevic. They are both worse apart from each other, which is why keeping them together is important.
New Jersey Devils announced a five-year deal for Johnathan Kovacevic that pays him $4 million per season.
The Devils announced on Friday that Kovacevic was re-signed to a five-year deal worth a total of $20 million. That’s a long contract for a player who was playing on the league minimum this season, but it’s worth it in the long run.
This is a player who was headed to unrestricted free agency. They cost more money. So, the Devils probably paid $500,000 more per year and added one more year than they wanted to, but that’s the cost of business.
This cap hit will feel like nothing by the time the Devils are worried about it. He did get a full no-trade clause in years one and two of the contract. He gets a 10-team no-trade clause for the rest of the deal. That won’t be hard to navigate once the deal gets later into the contract.
Kovacevic is 27 years old, so the end of the deal might slightly hurt, but that’s a future Devils problem. Keeping him in the room was important. And it doesn’t necessarily act as a stopping point for Simon Nemec. He still has options to make this team, and the Devils shouldn’t trade him because of this deal alone.
The contract looks long and comes with some sticker shock, but in the long run, it will be a positive for the Devils. Now, go make a trade to make this team better.