New Jersey Devils
Devils Johnathan Kovacevic Reveals Injury; Why Surgery Hasn’t Happened, Yet
Johnathan Kovacevic knew right away that his season was over upon injury. So, why didn’t the Devils defenseman get surgery sooner?
NEWARK– There was a clear look of disappointment on Johnathan Kovacevic’s face when he emerged for exit interviews on breakup day. The New Jersey Devils defenseman knew he was about to reveal his injury, and relatively how long the recovery process was going to be.
Speaking it out loud and making it public information imposed its reality.
The Devils won’t have Johnathan Kovacevic at the start of next season after he receives surgery on his injured knee, which will sideline him for a while.
“Still kind of sorting things out now. But it looks like I’m going to have to get surgery, and I’ll be out for a decent amount of time. I don’t anticipate I’ll be ready for the start of next year,” Kovacevic revealed.
READ MORE: 8 Key Takeaways from Devils Breakup Day with Future Implications
Kovacevic was a revelation for the Devils in 2024-25. He was a crucial part of the blueline that was vastly improved from the season previous, contributing to the NHL’s fifth-best defense, which allowed just 2.68 goals against per game.
In fact, his pairing with fellow defenseman, Jonas Siegenthaler, made them one of the best shutdown duos league-wide.
His missing presence in the lineup in the second period of Game 2 and beyond was certainly felt.
“Obviously, a really disappointing way—personally—for the season to end a few games into the playoffs,” Kovacevic muttered. “It ends a little bit early for myself, so, yeah, disappointed [about] it. It’s part of the part of the game, though. It’s a physical sport. Things happen quick. You know, it was actually the first shift of the period. I kind of went into a hit, and my knee felt a little bit funny, and it felt a little off. I played the rest of the period, but in the intermission I went and got it checked out, and the doctor said, ‘You can’t go back out there.’”
The elephant in the room couldn’t be ignored, however. Kovacevic was standing in front of the media talking, no limp in his step, yet to have the procedure which will only push his recovery timeline backwards. Was it because he could potentially play through it and delay surgery to the offseason? Otherwise, why not go for surgery right away, similar to how Jack Hughes did earlier this season?
“No, the doctors said for an injury like this, you have to wait a few weeks for the swelling and everything to kind of go down before you can operate,” Kovacevic explained. “Obviously, I would love to be out there, but they said it’s not stable, and you’re risking kind of hurting other things in your knee if you go back out there. And then that gets to a point where it gets even worse and worse. So I thought I’ve got to trust the doctors. They’re really great.”
The Devils then relied on Brian Dumoulin to play heavy minutes, nearly touching 40 minutes one night, Dennis Cholowski, youngster Simon Nemec, and an expedited return by Siegenthaler to fill in the gaps with Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon also hampered by injuries.
It was a disappointing end to Kovacevic’s season, who defied expectations, took over a full-time role on the blueline.
The good news for Kovacevic is that his recovery process will be pressure free. Not in the knee, but his moral pressure.
The 6-foot-5, 223-lb defender was supposed to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. However, the five-year extension he inked in the winter relieved any pressure he faced to rush back from the recovery process. It gave Kovacevic the peace of mind he needed to go through this process properly.
“It’s awesome that I get to be a part of the group for the next five years, and it lets me think more long term with the knee instead of maybe trying to cut corners and trying to get back faster,” Kovacevic remarked. “I really want to make sure things are done right. You can never control injuries, especially contact injuries, like things can just happen, but I want to make sure that I do this thing right. The contract just gives me a little bit less pressure to want to cut corners or whatever in the rehab recovery process.”
It’s a long road of recovery ahead of Kovacevic. The right-shot defenseman will remain in New Jersey for a while, as opposed to going home, as most players have already begun to do for the offseason.
Despite the way it ended, Kovacevic is trying to focus on the positives.
“I want to stay focused on the positives. I will be back next year, and I will be stronger and a better athlete,” Kovacevic said. “I’ll take care of myself more. I’m going to learn a lot of lessons through this. So I’m going to be better for it. I have to be patient. I don’t want to rush this back or anything, but I just want to do everything I can to make sure that I’m the best I can be when I do get back.”
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