Canadiens trade Kovacevic to Devils for 4th-round pick

The Montreal Canadiens traded defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic to the New Jersey Devils for a 2026 fourth-round pick, the teams announced Sunday.

Kovacevic shoots right and stands at 6-foot-5, 223 pounds. The 26-year-old is in the final year of his contract with a sub-league-minimum cap hit of $766,000.

Johnathan Kovacevic, acquired by NJ, is a puck-carrying two-way defenceman who's active in his own end and kills penalties. Has done solid work for MTL in a third pair role. #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/rsoCp4fger
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 30, 2024

Kovacevic will compete for a permanent spot on New Jersey's blue line following the departures of Kevin Bahl and John Marino. Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, Luke Hughes, and Simon Nemec will take up four spots. The Devils are expected to make further additions on the back end, too.

The trade helps alleviate a logjam among Montreal's defense corps. The Habs still have Mike Matheson, David Savard, Jordan Harris, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, and Justin Barron in the fold.