Confirmed with Link: Jonathan Kovacevic traded to NJ for 2026 4th

[Nubmer6]

want to apologize for what can only be described as predominantly ridiculous proposals and whatnot, frankly I'm embarrassed by so much of it.

Why should the Montreal board be different than any of the others on HFBoards?

Every fanbase overvalues their players, us included.

 

[jkrdevil]

He’s been really good. It also makes me wonder how bad of a coach St. Louis really is.

 

[devilsblood]

He’s been really good. It also makes me wonder how bad of a coach St. Louis really is.

For not playing Kova more? Maybe that was more a mgmt decision to get some of the younger guys in the game?

But his on ice numbers were good there.

 

[Blackjack]

For not playing Kova more? Maybe that was more a mgmt decision to get some of the younger guys in the game?

But his on ice numbers were good there.

Kovacevic was 26 last year lmao.

And I’m laughing at them, not you, because I think you’re right. I think they gave up on a top pair RHD so they could get like Logan Mailloux into the lineup or whatever

 

[My3Sons]

Kovacevic was 26 last year lmao.

And I’m laughing at them, not you, because I think you’re right. I think they gave up on a top pair RHD so they could get like Logan Mailloux into the lineup or whatever

he's a Montreal castoff. If he's better than Luke Hughes than Hutson wins the Norris this year.

 

[JrFischer54]

its moves like this players like this that make me ok with trading the youth on defense that we have if it brings impactful help elsewhere. lock in your two core 1&2 d man that you want to build the defense around

 

[BozoTheClown]

I think what you really want to find is some of the trade threads for other MTL trades and prospect threads about defenseman.

That’s where some MTL fans have to defend the trade by talking about how much Kovy stinks, or if he’s playing well then he definitely will start to stink. Otherwise, why would Montreal have traded him? It couldn’t be an error by MTL.

It was a mistake by Montreal, especially for the return.
Kovacevic has only been improving every seasons in Montreal and from what I can see, this year as well in New Jersey. He should have been Savard’s replacement.

Now Montreal has been playing with 5 LHD for most of the year, just stupid!

 

[dgibb10]

It was a mistake by Montreal, especially for the return.
Kovacevic has only been improving every seasons in Montreal and from what I can see, this year as well in New Jersey. He should have been Savard’s replacement.

Now Montreal has been playing with 5 LHD for most of the year, just stupid!

Far too much faith in Mailloux, Barron, and Savard heading into this year from MTL

 

[BozoTheClown]

Far too much faith in Mailloux, Barron, and Savard heading into this year from MTL

Don’t forget 19 years old Reinbacher

 

[Bleedred]

This thread bump keeps making me think we either traded him again or signed him to an extension.

 

[Lou is God]

Don’t forget 19 years old Reinbacher

Imagine if you guys took Michkov instead? Your forward unit would be scary as f***

 

[BozoTheClown]

Imagine if you guys took Michkov instead? Your forward unit would be scary as f***

Maverick Lamoureux instead of Mesar and Mitchkov instead of Reinbacher. We should have traded Matheson the latest at last year’s draft. Tank this year for a bottom 3 and maybe 3 to 4 first round picks.

But management wants to be “ in da mix”

 

[Clam Jensen]

Maverick Lamoureux instead of Mesar and Mitchkov instead of Reinbacher. We should have traded Matheson the latest at last year’s draft. Tank this year for a bottom 3 and maybe 3 to 4 first round picks.

But management wants to be “ in da mix”

How long until MSL gets canned?

 

[Triumph]

I will say that even if Kovacevic is good on these terrible Habs, do they think about retaining him? Seems doubtful. They probably trade him for a 3rd at the deadline - no one's going nuts for a guy having a good season with no pedigree on a bad team.

 

[BozoTheClown]

How long until MSL gets canned?

I don’t know.
Feels like the Bergevin years all over again.

I will say that even if Kovacevic is good on these terrible Habs, do they think about retaining him? Seems doubtful. They probably trade him for a 3rd at the deadline - no one's going nuts for a guy having a good season with no pedigree on a bad team.

If you look at the numbers, the improvements, the consistency and the fact he is a 6’5” 220 lbs RHD that does a bit of everything, you know you have to keep him as he replaces Savard.

 

[Triumph]

I don’t know.
Feels like the Bergevin years all over again.


If you look at the numbers, the improvements, the consistency and the fact he is a 6’5” 220 lbs RHD that does a bit of everything, you know you have to keep him as he replaces Savard.

He's UFA, why would he stay there? It's just a counterfactual - the Habs didn't see him as a longterm piece and moved him. The problem is that they didn't notice what he was doing last season, but once they didn't notice that, he was always gone.

I do think rebuilding organizations can get too fixated on the guys in their system to the detriment of what they have now, but also sometimes it just doesn't matter all that much. By the time Montreal's any good, Kovacevic almost certainly has no value.

 

[BozoTheClown]

He's UFA, why would he stay there? It's just a counterfactual - the Habs didn't see him as a longterm piece and moved him. The problem is that they didn't notice what he was doing last season, but once they didn't notice that, he was always gone.

I do think rebuilding organizations can get too fixated on the guys in their system to the detriment of what they have now, but also sometimes it just doesn't matter all that much. By the time Montreal's any good, Kovacevic almost certainly has no value.

The problem with the Habs is holding on to Matheson past last year’s draft.
You get the extra assets for your rebuild while weakening yourself a bit for a higher 1st round pick. This year you trade Savard at the deadline and hopefully get a 1st and Kovacevic replaces him next year.

I think Kovacevic has another good 5-6 years in him.

But what do I know? Who needs a 6’5” 220 RDH stay at home jack of all trades dmen?’

 

[Triumph]

The problem with the Habs is holding on to Matheson past last year’s draft.
You get the extra assets for your rebuild while weakening yourself a bit for a higher 1st round pick. This year you trade Savard at the deadline and hopefully get a 1st and Kovacevic replaces him next year.

I think Kovacevic has another good 5-6 years in him.

But what do I know? Who needs a 6’5” 220 RDH stay at home jack of all trades dmen?’

I agree that it would've been good to try to move Matheson at last year's draft. The problem is, who would've wanted him? I don't think there are that many dumb NHL GMs anymore. What do you think they would offer for him? He's been on 3 different teams already and was basically moved as a salary dump by both Florida and Pittsburgh.

A bad team is just a vortex for player value. Even when a guy like Matheson explodes on a bad team, I don't think that many teams are fooled - there's only 2 defensemen on most power plays, and most teams already have a PP1 guy. Jake Walman had two solid years for the Wings and they traded a 2nd round pick to get rid of him.

Kovacevic is not a jack of all trades D man but he's good. He probably has another 5-6 good years in him, but if he's signed UFA by Montreal, he's likely not worth anything because they will be paying Montreal prices to keep him.

 

[BozoTheClown]

I agree that it would've been good to try to move Matheson at last year's draft. The problem is, who would've wanted him? I don't think there are that many dumb NHL GMs anymore. What do you think they would offer for him? He's been on 3 different teams already and was basically moved as a salary dump by both Florida and Pittsburgh.

Matheson just had 34 points in 48 games and 62 points in 82 games and makes 4.875 million for 2 seasons. I think at 2.44 mil for 2 years, there would have been several takers. He is not a # 1 dmen, but more than capable on the 2nd pairing.

A bad team is just a vortex for player value. Even when a guy like Matheson explodes on a bad team, I don't think that many teams are fooled - there's only 2 defensemen on most power plays, and most teams already have a PP1 guy. Jake Walman had two solid years for the Wings and they traded a 2nd round pick to get rid of him.

Kovacevic is not a jack of all trades D man but he's good. He probably has another 5-6 good years in him, but if he's signed UFA by Montreal, he's likely not worth anything because they will be paying Montreal prices to keep him.

Kovacevic is New Jersey # 4 dmen and yes he does a little bit of everything.

 

[tailfins]

I agree that it would've been good to try to move Matheson at last year's draft. The problem is, who would've wanted him? I don't think there are that many dumb NHL GMs anymore. What do you think they would offer for him? He's been on 3 different teams already and was basically moved as a salary dump by both Florida and Pittsburgh.

Verbeek just took on Trouba's entire deal and sent back assets. I think there would have been a taker for Matheson - particularly if there was retention. The Habs may not have gotten a ton, but selling high on Matheson seemed obvious last year.

What's weird to me is that the Canadiens moved Kovacevic over the summer - and only for a fourth. Montreal was 10 deep on D, but six (Mailloux, Reinbacher, Struble, Xhekaj, Hutson and Guhle) were still waivers exempt coming into the season, and they only had three experienced RD. Assuming everything else played out the same, they could have sent Hutson or Xhekaij down and kept Kovacevic. Or waived Kovacevic once they saw there were six or seven D ahead of him. The insurance seemed well worth a fourth round pick.

Feels like Montreal (MSL?) actively didn't like him.

Meanwhile, Montreal is attempting to force its inexperienced D (with Guhle playing his off side) to play a very complicated hybrid system:

https://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/hockey-inside-out/article560298.html

 

[Nubmer6]

Meanwhile, Montreal is attempting to force its inexperienced D (with Guhle playing his off side) to play a very complicated hybrid system:

Why does that sound familiar?

 

[Triumph]

Verbeek just took on Trouba's entire deal and sent back assets. I think there would have been a taker for Matheson - particularly if there was retention. The Habs may not have gotten a ton, but selling high on Matheson seemed obvious last year.

I have already seen people talking about Trouba like this and what you are missing is that a lot of NHL GMs played in the league when the game was much more violent and most rosters had a genuinely malicious player in addition to a goon. Trouba is the near the last of a breed - maybe Romanov is a guy who hits in open ice, maybe Xhekaj is one too, but other than that, it is rare to see young defensemen attempt this sort of hit. By the time these young guys started playing hockey, headhunting had finally been banned at the NHL level.

Matheson, on the other hand, is a guy who has been around for a very long time and who has been undesirable for a very long time. What you're not seeing is that while it feels easy to just sell high on a guy like that ('get the maximum'), it must also feel stupid to trade a guy like that for, e.g., a 2nd round pick and a middling prospect.

What's weird to me is that the Canadiens moved Kovacevic over the summer - and only for a fourth. Montreal was 10 deep on D, but six (Mailloux, Reinbacher, Struble, Xhekaj, Hutson and Guhle) were still waivers exempt coming into the season, and they only had three experienced RD. Assuming everything else played out the same, they could have sent Hutson or Xhekaij down and kept Kovacevic. Or waived Kovacevic once they saw there were six or seven D ahead of him. The insurance seemed well worth a fourth round pick.

Xhekaj is eligible for waivers, he was signed in 2021. I don't think a team in Montreal's position is looking for insurance.

Feels like Montreal (MSL?) actively didn't like him.

This is obviously true, but also they didn't give up anything for him initially. Nothing ventured.

The overall point I'm trying to make is that the bad process is in not recognizing he's good, not in trading him - teams should be trading players that they don't have a spot for. It's been a while since we've seen a Frankie Corrado sort of situation in the league where a younger player is just riding the pine for months, but it's something that should not happen.

 

[Triumph]

Matheson just had 34 points in 48 games and 62 points in 82 games and makes 4.875 million for 2 seasons. I think at 2.44 mil for 2 years, there would have been several takers. He is not a # 1 dmen, but more than capable on the 2nd pairing.

There might be several takers. I don't think anyone is paying a 1st round pick for that, though. Shayne Gostisbehere just had a 56 point season with Detroit and signed for less money and fewer years than Brenden Dillon. I don't think Matheson has high esteem around the league, and I don't think he's the kind of player that playoff teams are looking for - quite the opposite.

If this had been another constrained cap year, maybe, but with the $4.5M in space opening up this summer, it meant teams didn't have to think this way anymore. The type of deal you are talking about very seldom happens, and I don't think it's because bad teams are reluctant to retain salary like this.

Kovacevic is New Jersey # 4 dmen and yes he does a little bit of everything.

Perhaps a translation issue, I just think of a jack of all trades player as capable of playing in all situations, but Kovacevic would probably never appear on a power play (and indeed he didn't play there in Montreal, either).

 

[tailfins]

The overall point I'm trying to make is that the bad process is in not recognizing he's good, not in trading him - teams should be trading players that they don't have a spot for. It's been a while since we've seen a Frankie Corrado sort of situation in the league where a younger player is just riding the pine for months, but it's something that should not happen.

I generally agree with you. I don’t think Montreal jettisoning Kovacevic was bad on their part. It’s just the timing I wonder about. There was nothing forcing them to move him when they did. If the didn’t value him, what’s the big deal in just leaving him twisting in the wind a bit?

Kovacevic isn’t a young guy. There are many defenseman in his situation who are 7th or 8th D.

Look at Alexeyev in Washington. Or Siegs before he got traded. They are / were younger than Kovacevic. (Or Holtz in NJ, but that’s different in a bunch of ways.)

I just think Kovacevic had more value to Montreal as a spare part. Montreal doesn’t really need another 4th round pick.

 

[Triumph]

I generally agree with you. I don’t think Montreal jettisoning Kovacevic was bad on their part. It’s just the timing I wonder about. There was nothing forcing them to move him when they did. If the didn’t value him, what’s the big deal in just leaving him twisting in the wind a bit?

Kovacevic isn’t a young guy. There are many defenseman in his situation who are 7th or 8th D.

Look at Alexeyev in Washington. Or Siegs before he got traded. They are / were younger than Kovacevic. (Or Holtz in NJ, but that’s different in a bunch of ways.)

I just think Kovacevic had more value to Montreal as a spare part. Montreal doesn’t really need another 4th round pick.

You agreed with me but then wrote a big post that was basically like 'why didn't do the opposite of what you said, though'. They looked at their depth chart and saw no room for him. They didn't want him as a 7th D. I can't find if he was injured at all last season because he missed 20 games, but looking at his game log it doesn't appear so, it looks like they were just healthy scratching him, especially late in the season; it looks like he was only in there about half the time. Chances are at the exit interview each side expressed some dissatisfaction with the other and they made the decision to get rid of him. That's how it should go in this league.