Three Under-the-Radar Moves Made by the Devils this Offseason

It was a busy and productive summer for the New Jersey Devils.

General manager Tom Fitzgerald made notable splashes by trading for goaltender Jacob Markstrom and reeled in big fish via free agency by signing Brett Pesce, Brendan Dillon, and Stefan Noesen. Many fans tend to get caught up in the big transactions. However, it’s often the smaller, under-the-radar moves that pay dividends come the postseason. The Devils are firmly in win-now mode, so it will be interesting to revisit these moves next spring and see if they vaulted the Devils back into the playoffs.

Trading for Johnathan Kovacevic

Amid a hectic day two of the NHL Draft, the Devils flipped a fourth-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic. Trading for a bottom-pair defenseman with just 143 career games typically doesn’t get fan bases rowdy. However, the Devils saw last year how thin injuries can make your blueline, and added a player who’s been a mainstay with the Canadiens in the past two seasons.

The 27-year-old fits the mold of what Fitzgerald wants his defense core to look like with his 6-foot-5 frame. A late bloomer, Kovacevic figures to be one of the better seventh defensemen in the NHL.

Montreal Hockey Now’s Marc Dumont had this to say about him, “He can absorb minutes on the third pair and do it very well. Don’t push him too much, he has his limits. But he can solidify your third pairing and sometimes pitch in on the second pairing. Kovacevic is not spectacular defensive or offensively, but at the end of the day, you check the stats, and he’s among the best defencemen most nights. He finished his first year with the Habs as far and away the best RHD, though his usage was sheltered.”

Before acquiring Kovacevic, the Devils were poised for some internal competition between Nick DeSimone or Santeri Hatakka to fill the role of “next man up” if someone were to get hurt. Those two combined have played 59 NHL games.

Now, Kovacevic joins that fight as a defenseman who has played 66 games just last season and has solidified himself as a trusted player in the league. For the Devils, he hopefully won’t need to play more than a handful of games, but if the injury bug strikes again they’ll at least have someone capable of playing most nights.

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

Hiring Jeremy Colliton

The youth movement behind the Devils bench is in full swing following the hires of Sheldon Keefe as head coach and Jeremy Colliton as an assistant. The former Chicago Blackhawks head coach joined the Devils after back-to-back seasons guiding the Abbotsford Canucks to the AHL playoffs.

The once youngest head coach in the NHL, Colliton tried his best to keep an aging Blackhawks team afloat. Prior to their inevitable collapse and his eventual firing in 2021-22, Colliton managed to sneak into the postseason during the NHL’s return to play following the Covid pause. Yet he fell in the first round in five games, losing four to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Colliton’s track record doesn’t pop out, but he was able to squeeze out the last bit of production from aging stars like Patrick Kane, Johnathan Toews, and Duncan Keith. He’s also had stops as a head coach in Sweden and with Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

What makes Colliton a good hire is two things; another young, relatable voice in the room and his ability as a communicator. Despite being just 39 years old, Colliton has a bevy of coaching experience. Keefe will likely lean on him to relate and get through to the young core the Devils have assembled, which leads to the second point. Controversy aside, former Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman praised Colliton for his attributes as a communicator.

“He has been very impressive as a communicator, a leader, and a coach,” Stan Bowman explained to the Chicago media. “He knows the Blackhawks system, understands our players and our culture and we believe he gives us the best opportunity to have success and grow as a team.”

We have named Jeremy Colliton as an assistant coach.

Welcome to the team, Coach!

📰: https://t.co/zTqpMkDF0L pic.twitter.com/CSnETRhxwg

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) June 11, 2024

Acquiring Extra Draft Capital

When the Devils traded away Tyler Toffoli and John Marino it began a chain reaction that led to the team spending big in free agency, most notably on Brett Pesce. What may have been lost in it all is the future draft capital Fitzgerald picked up. Both trades netted the Devils second-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, arming the team with three second-rounders at the 2025 NHL Draft. Considering Fitzgerald already traded his 2025 first-round pick to acquire Jacob Markstrom, that’s pretty significant.

Fitzgerald will have a ton of flexibility if he looks to make a move at the trade deadline or prior. With Tomas Tatar or Ondrej Palat the likeliest options to play top-six minutes, odds are the Devils could be looking for an upgrade at some point in the season. Three second-round picks are plenty of ammo to get a bona fide top-six winger or even a very good third-line center.

Fitzgerald could even opt to parcel them out and make multiple trades to add depth for a playoff run. Even in an unlikely, but plausible scenario where they don’t trade the picks for NHL-ready players, they could package the picks at the draft to trade back up into the first round. The point is that Fitzgerald is set up very well to improve the team via trade even without having a first-round pick to offer.

For more Devils news, visit New Jersey Hockey Now and like our Facebook page.

Follow us on 𝕏:

@NJDHockeyNow, @JamesNicholsNHL, @NickNatale10

And on Threads:

@JamesNicholsNHL