Devils News
Devils Sign Johnathan Kovacevic to Extension, Raises Blueline Questions
The New Jersey Devils have extended Johnathan Kovacevic to a five-year deal. So, what does that mean for the future of the blueline?
NEWARK—One of the question marks coming into the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline was going to be whether the New Jersey Devils were going to commit to Johnathan Kovacevic or not. That question was answered on Friday when Kovacevic inked an extension.
Kovacevic’s deal is a five-year contract worth $20,000,000 with an annual average value of $4,000,000. Kovacevic has full no-trade protection in the first two years of his contract. In the final three years, Kovacevic has a 10-team no-trade clause.
READ MORE: Devils Targeting Blues Captain Brayden Schenn?
The 27-year-old defenseman shocked the Devils when he took advantage of an opportunity amid injuries at the opening of the 2024-25 season. With Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce unavailable to start the season, Kovacevic blossomed into one of the NHLs top shutdown defenseman alongside Jonas Siegenthaler.
Now, Kovacevic’s stay in New Jersey is permanent, whereas he was viewed as a stopgap seventh defenseman upon arrival.
Back in December, Kovacevic expressed his desire to remain with the Devils to New Jersey Hockey Now.
“I love it here, the guys are awesome, I love where I’m living, I love the team,” Kovacevic explained to NJHN.
Kovacevic’s extension certainly raises a few questions on the blueline. The Devils are now locked into a right side that consists of Kovacevic, Pesce, and Dougie Hamilton.
So what does that mean for the likes of Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey?
The latter has showed promise as an offensive defenseman on the blueline. However, his defensive game at the NHL level is still raw. He’s certainly shown improvement in small samples, in contrast to the eight-game stint to start the 2024-25 season. However, he could benefit from a bit more seasoning at the AHL level before breaking into the NHL full-time.
It’s the former that the begs the biggest question. Is the former second overall pick in 2022 willing to take a backseat to Kovacevic to continue to develop his game in the minors?
Nemec is on record that he believes himself to be NHL-ready.
Time will tell, but one thing is for sure. The Devils are committed to Kovacevic after he grabbed a strong hold of a roster spot this season. We’ll see what trickles down the pipeline as a result.
For more Devils news, visit New Jersey Hockey Now, subscribe to our YouTube and like our Facebook page.
Follow us on 𝕏:
@NJDHockeyNow, @JamesNicholsNHL, @NickNatale10
And on Threads:
