Devils’ Kovacevic Has Been the Surprise No One Expected

Johnathan Kovacevic has been one of the NHL's best shutdown defenders through Thanksgiving, something the New Jersey Devils might not have even expected.

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It's not a shock the New Jersey Devils decided to revamp their blue line this past offseason. Their main additions were Brenden Dillon and Brett Pesce, but they also acquired Johnathan Kovacevic in a relatively lowkey trade from the Montreal Canadiens.

The expectation was Kovacevic would be the Devils' seventh defenseman and that Šimon Nemec would take over in a third-pair role. But that has not even come remotely close to happening.

Nemec is in the AHL and has one point in six games with the Utica Comets. As for Kovacevic, he's become one of the best shutdown defenders in the NHL on a pair with Jonas Siegenthaler.

Kovacevic's Breakout

Kovacevic put up some solid underlying numbers in his time with the Canadiens. There was a bit to suggest that he could excel in a third-pair role if the Devils needed him to play. But what he's done to start this season? I'm not sure anyone saw this coming.

It started in the preseason when head coach Sheldon Keefe gave Kovacevic a shot alongside Siegenthaler. Their numbers were solid, so they began the regular season together. Little did we know that Kovacevic would emerge the way he has.

We'll focus on that pairing in a second, but let's start with Kovacevic. The Devils are controlling 57.83 percent of the expected goals (xG%) and are allowing just 1.72 expected goals per 60 minutes when he's on the ice.

Not only has Kovacevic been one of the Devils' best shot suppressors, but he's been one of the best in the NHL. The only defensemen who have suppressed shots at a better rate are Jared Spurgeon, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Maveric Lamoureux and Vladislav Gavrikov.

Kovacevic has also been one of the most valuable players in the NHL, not just among defensemen. As someone pointed out to me on Bluesky, he's among the league leaders in goals above replacement (GAR); his GAR of 9.9 is third in the NHL to Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Sandin.