Confirmed with Link: Kovacevic Traded to the Devils for 2026 4th Round pick (Highest of the three 4th Rounders the Devils own)

[Adam Michaels]

Keep up what pace? The pace that he can log minutes, keep the puck out of his net, and score a few points? Nah thanks bro, I'm quite confident he can keep that up.

Then you're over valuing him. You're also a little all over the place with him. In one post, you're talking about him being a moderately paid but a solid piece, which describes a 3rd pairing guy. In fact, you brought up preferring him over Barron, who is in fact a 3rd pairing guy.

And then in this post, you're talking about him being able to keep up the pace of him playing 20 or so minutes and producing the way he has, which is a PPG pace by the way reserved for the elite defensemen playing top pair.

So which is it? Is he a good depth piece for the 3rd pair or is he a top pair guy who will play at a PPG pace or around that?

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

He was a healthy scratch on a bottom 5 team, a very poor man’s Ben Chiarot. Maybe he sold his soul to the Devils and is suddenly legitimate Top 4 but he was never going to be part of the future. Remember when Joel Hanley got 6 pts in 10 games and was going to be our savior at D? Let’s circle back in 2 months.

 

[BLONG7]

and if we didn't trade Kovacevic, I can only imagine the bitching and moaning every time Arber and Struble sat for him to play.

Exactly................some are acting like we dealt Markov to the Devils for a pick.
Sweet mother.........
Everyone knew, Kovacevic and Harris were going. And here we are.......

 

[OldCraig71]

I would argue that Kovacevic had the same amount of brain farts as Guhle, Arber, Struble and the rest of the young D. The difference is fans expectations.

No one expects Kovacevic to be more than a bottom pairing D man. So his errors are glossed over as it being part of his capability.

The young crew doesnt get the same rope because fans expect a high potential, and expect them to reach it fairly quickly.

I am not sure how many times it needs to be said, but it's not very common for D men to be completely reliable in their very early 20s.

I don't disagree with you, but I was merely stating that Kovacevic was an important piece based on his pay grade. We have plenty of players on our current roster playing primary roles that are more suited to being complimentary pieces, hence the reason we are near the bottom of the league.

 

[Natey]

Then you're over valuing him. You're also a little all over the place with him. In one post, you're talking about him being a moderately paid but a solid piece, which describes a 3rd pairing guy. In fact, you brought up preferring him over Barron, who is in fact a 3rd pairing guy.

And then in this post, you're talking about him being able to keep up the pace of him playing 20 or so minutes and producing the way he has, which is a PPG pace by the way reserved for the elite defensemen playing top pair.

So which is it? Is he a good depth piece for the 3rd pair or is he a top pair guy who will play at a PPG pace or around that?

Is he solid? In my opinion, yes. Is he moderately paid? Yes. Can he be more than a 3rd pairing guy? I think so, but it's hard to say cause he was never really given the chance.

I'm really not all over the place with him. And you're being absolutely f***ing ridiculous if you think I've ever said he can be a PPG guy. Get real man. I respect you, but that's just being a tad bit disingenuous.

 

[Natey]

I would argue that Kovacevic had the same amount of brain farts as Guhle, Arber, Struble and the rest of the young D. The difference is fans expectations.

No one expects Kovacevic to be more than a bottom pairing D man. So his errors are glossed over as it being part of his capability.

The young crew doesnt get the same rope because fans expect a high potential, and expect them to reach it fairly quickly.

I am not sure how many times it needs to be said, but it's not very common for D men to be completely reliable in their very early 20s.

The same amount? He would have never been a +14 (as well as a plus player the entirety of his pro career) if he had the same amount of brain farts as the rest of them.

There's a reason Kovacevic had a very good WAR when he was with us. And it's not cause he was making mistakes constantly. You're taking a lot away from how reliable he actually is.

And it's not like he's getting easy minutes. In Montreal and so far in New Jersey, he's been heavily used in defensive zone starts. Super small sample size so far in New Jersey, but he's started over 85% of his shifts in the defensive zone at even strength. Absolutely nutty.

Also - I don't expect anything from Barron really. I hated the trade that brought him here from the start because he's not a defenseman I ever thought too highly of. He's had glimpses because he has some incredible tools.. but he's got no toolbox to put them in.

He was a healthy scratch on a bottom 5 team, a very poor man’s Ben Chiarot. Maybe he sold his soul to the Devils and is suddenly legitimate Top 4 but he was never going to be part of the future. Remember when Joel Hanley got 6 pts in 10 games and was going to be our savior at D? Let’s circle back in 2 months.

The difference is.. I saw this player in Montreal. But I was pretty adamant about Kovacevic.. so to see him starting off this well is absolutely not a shock to me.

I'm content enough with my opinions to know I've been massively wrong before (l thought Mathieu Aubin would make the league lolol) but so has every single poster here and every single GM in the NHL.

 

[Natey]

Exactly................some are acting like we dealt Markov to the Devils for a pick.
Sweet mother.........
Everyone knew, Kovacevic and Harris were going. And here we are.......

I mean... it's pretty easy to not come in the thread if you don't want?

 

[Andrei79]

Kovacevic was brutal, no idea why anyone would whine about this trade.

 

[Natey]

Kovacevic was brutal, no idea why anyone would whine about this trade.

Yeah, I also love seeing our team scored against every other shift unless we have a goalie stand on their head.

 

[Andrei79]

Yeah, I also love seeing our team scored against every other shift unless we have a goalie stand on their head.

That's cool and has nothing to do with Kovacevic, that did nothing in that regard. He had no future here.

 

[Natey]

That's cool and has nothing to do with Kovacevic, that did nothing in that regard. He had no future here.

Oh right. He had nothing to do with us not being scored on... despite being the only, basically, full-time player who had a positive +/- over 2 years with a massive amount of defensive zone starts.

Makes sense.

 

[Andrei79]

Oh right. He had nothing to do with us not being scored on... despite being the only, basically, full-time player who had a positive +/- over 2 years with a massive amount of defensive zone starts.

Makes sense.

You're right, he didn't have anything to do with it. It's why he was the least used guy 5 on 5, the worst of the bunch.

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

The same amount? He would have never been a +14 (as well as a plus player the entirety of his pro career) if he had the same amount of brain farts as the rest of them.

There's a reason Kovacevic had a very good WAR when he was with us. And it's not cause he was making mistakes constantly. You're taking a lot away from how reliable he actually is.

And it's not like he's getting easy minutes. In Montreal and so far in New Jersey, he's been heavily used in defensive zone starts. Super small sample size so far in New Jersey, but he's started over 85% of his shifts in the defensive zone at even strength. Absolutely nutty.

Also - I don't expect anything from Barron really. I hated the trade that brought him here from the start because he's not a defenseman I ever thought too highly of. He's had glimpses because he has some incredible tools.. but he's got no toolbox to put them in.


The difference is.. I saw this player in Montreal. But I was pretty adamant about Kovacevic.. so to see him starting off this well is absolutely not a shock to me.

I'm content enough with my opinions to know I've been massively wrong before (l thought Mathieu Aubin would make the league lolol) but so has every single poster here and every single GM in the NHL.

He was a likable/serviceable guy but at his age and projection he wasn’t going to be in the plans and needed to give opportunities to the youth that will/should be and he wasn’t go to be re-signed after this season. Yeah maybe could’ve kept him as insurance and a) lose him on waivers if the kids hit and GMs know you have no leverage or b) get maybe a slightly higher pick at the TDL. If none of Barron, Reinbacher, Mailloux can replace him we have bigger problems in the rebuild.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Oh right. He had nothing to do with us not being scored on... despite being the only, basically, full-time player who had a positive +/- over 2 years with a massive amount of defensive zone starts.

Makes sense.

I think of the current d-men on the roster, he would probably be the 4th best at playing actual defense.

Guhle and Savard are both better, Matheson and Struble are debatable, but he is clearly better at actual defensive hockey than Xhekaj or Barron currently.

I think Matheson actually gets shit on too much for his defensive ability - he gets lost in coverage when the other team has sustained pressure, but he breaks up so many plays with his skating and decent stick work.

I was impressed with Struble this preseason but Xhekaj and Barron are both turnstiles right now. It's clear the scouting report is out on Xhekaj too as teams take him wide every game and he can't keep up.

 

[Kimota]

hashtag bring back Kovacevic

 

[BLONG7]

I mean... it's pretty easy to not come in the thread if you don't want?

True..............stating the obvious can be painful on everyone.
Habs fans love their drama eh....

 

[Frankenheimer]

Strange hill to die on.

 

[BLONG7]

Yeah, I also love seeing our team scored against every other shift unless we have a goalie stand on their head.

Seriously.............................Kovacevic is the hill you want to take??

He was decent, and I liked he would drop the gloves, which was great to take pressure off of The Sheriff, but that's it................he was always going to be the guy going, and Harris too.
Both had great traits.......but they were expendable.

 

[Natey]

You're right, he didn't have anything to do with it. It's why he was the least used guy 5 on 5, the worst of the bunch.

First - that's a lie. He was used more than Xhekaj.

Secondly - I expect you to never oppose Martin St. Louis' choices going forward since you've just used the argument that he's always right. Thanks for that. I will make sure to call you out the first time you question him.

 

[Natey]

I think of the current d-men on the roster, he would probably be the 4th best at playing actual defense.

Guhle and Savard are both better, Matheson and Struble are debatable, but he is clearly better at actual defensive hockey than Xhekaj or Barron currently.

I think Matheson actually gets shit on too much for his defensive ability - he gets lost in coverage when the other team has sustained pressure, but he breaks up so many plays with his skating and decent stick work.

I was impressed with Struble this preseason but Xhekaj and Barron are both turnstiles right now. It's clear the scouting report is out on Xhekaj too as teams take him wide every game and he can't keep up.

Matheson's issue for me is that his value would have never been higher than it was after last season. For his price, he's a completely fine #3 type guy... who we have to use as #1 right now by default. 26 minutes a night is too much for him. He reminds me a lot of Brisebois in that sense - though he's a bit better defensively. I don't dislike Matheson as a person or even a player overall, I dislike that we could have got a ransom for him and let that pass.

I agree with the rest.. and I think Kova's offensive ability is a bit underrated. I think, with Top-4 ice-time, he could have been a 20-ish point player on our team, which is fair production for that spot and his zone starts.

Again, I've never said we shouldn't trade him. I said the trade we made was poor, especially for when it happened. If this happened a couple weeks before the season when they had their defense set - sure. But it's sad that our defense, IMO, is worse defensively than even last year and we're supposed to be moving forward.

Strange hill to die on.

Well, I'm not going to die because of my opinion.

This types of posts are wild to me. Without opinions, this place would have zero posts. Like what?

Seriously.............................Kovacevic is the hill you want to take??

He was decent, and I liked he would drop the gloves, which was great to take pressure off of The Sheriff, but that's it................he was always going to be the guy going, and Harris too.
Both had great traits.......but they were expendable.

If we kept Engstrom up, I'd have less of an issue (even though I'd still think the trade was bad). But f***ing Justin Barron?

 

[Redux91]

Please
Let this thread die..

 

[The Great Weal]

Imagine whining about not having a #7 dman 2 games into the season. The guy wasn't even a regular with us, he was part of the healthy scratch rotation.

 

[Habs13]

The logic in this thread is baffling. Should we keep Armia, Dvorak, Gallagher, Anderson forever in case they do better with their new teams than the 20-22 year olds that potential replace them!?

He was good as a Hab and I'm happy he's doing well in New Jersey but we are a rebuilding team that needs to shed veterans to make way for the new breed.

The funniest part is Struble probably draws in ahead of Barron, which means that Barron and Kovacevic will hold the same role as 7th defenceman! Barron is much younger with much greater upside over Kovacevic who is probably at his peak right now. Judge Barron when he's at his.

 

[G0bias]

Kovacevic fanboys getting Raphael Diaz trade PTSD

 

[Bottomshelf]

He handled the puck like it was a grenade, he was a decent bottom pairing guy but let’s not forget he was Waived by Winnipeg, Healthy scratched by us. He looked steady some nights and got exposed on others