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Johnathan Kovacevic

Position	Right Defense	Current Team	New Jersey Devils
Shoots	Right	Current Contract	5 years ($4.0M CapHit)
Height	6'5"	Expires	2029-30
Weight (lbs)	223	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	32
Age (DOB)	28 (July 12, 1997)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2017, Round 3, Overall 74 (WPG)

Date	Team	Transaction
Jan 11, 2026	New Jersey Devils	Activated from LTIR
Oct 6, 2025	New Jersey Devils	Placed on LTIR
Mar 7, 2025	New Jersey Devils	Signed 5 years @ $4.000M AAV starting in 2025-26
Jul 22, 2022	Winnipeg Jets	Signed 3 years @ $766K AAV starting in 2022-23
Aug 12, 2021	Winnipeg Jets	Signed 1 year @ $750K AAV starting in 2021-22
Mar 15, 2019	Winnipeg Jets	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/johnathan-kovacevic-8480192.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/johnathan-kovacevic-8480192.png

URL: https://thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/johnathan-kovacevic-8480192.png

About Player Cards

Player cards present an infographic of a players performance using a series of Player Archetypes developed for Puckalytics.com and TheStanleyCap.com. The boxes in the rink image show the archetype ratings for the season specified in the card while the graphs to the right show the five-year trends for those archetypes.

Except for Faceoffs, the values shown are the players z-score (standard deviation from the mean) for the specific metric used to calculate the archetype values. When calculating z-scores forwards were compared to forwards and defensemen were compared to defensemen. Positive values indicate the player is above average and shaded in blue, while negative values indicate the player is below average and shaded in punk. The five year trend charts show a range of -4.0 to 4.0.

The value shown for Faceoffs is the faceoff winning percentage rather than their z-score with winning percentages below 50 in pink shades and above 50 in blue shades.

All archetypes are 5v5 except 5v4 TOI, 4v5 TOI, Skating (even strength) and Faceoffs (all situations). Archetypes use regular season data only.

Archetypes Summary

Sniper - Measures the to score above the expected goal rate.
Rebound - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rebounds (forwards only).
5v4 TOI - Powerplay ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 5v4 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
Shooter - Measures whether a players points come from shots (goals or assists on rebounds from his shots).
Producer - Measures a players ability to produce goals and assists, adjusted for quality of teammates.
Playmaker - Measures whether a players points come from passes.
Drive - Measures a players ability to drive puck possession and generate shot attempts for his team.
Rush - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rush plays
Possession - An indicator of a players ability to improve his teams puck possession game.
Faceoffs - Faceoff Winning Percentage (min. 75 faceoffs taken).
5v5 TOI - The percentage of his teams 5v5 TOI that the player was on the ice for.
Suppress - Measures a players ability to suppress opponent puck possession and shot attempts against.
Skating - An indicator of a players skating ability, or speed bursts above 20mph per mile skated.
Defend - An indicator of a players ability to suppress shot quality against.
4v5 TOI - Penalty Kill ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 4v5 ice time that the player was on the ice for.

Data Sources

Salary data is from TheStanleyCap.com
Shooting and Skating (except Sh%AE) are from NHL Edge
Other statistics are from Puckalytics.com and derived from data from NHL.com

Terms of Use

You are free to use include player cards in written articles, share on social media, or on other public websites under the following conditions:

You credit TheStanleyCap.com as the source and provide a link back to TheStanleyCap.com or this player page.
You do not mass copy/duplicate/publish dozens or hundreds of player cards. A few, or a handful for a written article is fine. Be reasonable. Fair use rules apply.
If you are a high-traffic website you must download and host the image(s) on your site rather than overload TheStanleyCap servers with traffic.

Note: Player cards will update daily throughout the season so if you want to include snapshot then you must download the image.

If you have any questions, send an e-mail to the e-mail address at the top of this page.

Read Introducing Player Archetypes on HockeyAnalysis.com for more details on archetype calculations.

Core Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	Producer	Playmaker	Shooter	Sniper	Rebound	Rush	Skating	Defend
2021-22	WPG	4	-1.80	-1.80	-1.00	-1.18	-	-1.07	-0.31	4.15
2022-23	MTL	77	-0.46	-0.30	-0.55	-0.74	-	-0.17	-0.40	0.52
2023-24	MTL	62	-0.35	-1.27	2.09	2.83	-	0.26	-1.14	1.17
2024-25	NJD	81	-0.38	0.36	-0.87	-0.94	-	-0.68	-0.78	0.56
2025-26	NJD	34	-0.77	0.03	-0.95	-2.23	-	-0.70	-	0.87

Situational and Secondary Archetypes

Season	Team(s)	GP	5v5 TOI	5v4 TOI	4v5 TOI	Possession	Drive	Suppress	Faceoffs
2021-22	WPG	4	-3.05	-1.54	-1.70	4.77	2.14	-4.72	-
2022-23	MTL	77	-0.46	-1.39	0.05	1.16	0.81	-0.92	-
2023-24	MTL	62	-1.06	-1.45	0.21	0.68	0.35	-0.65	-
2024-25	NJD	81	0.14	-1.42	0.89	0.41	-0.89	-1.70	-
2025-26	NJD	34	-0.43	-1.48	0.16	-0.12	-0.12	0.08	-

About Archetypes

Player archetypes are a look at a players strengths and weaknesses in his game when compared to other players around the leeague. Except for Faceoffs, the values shown are the players z-score (standard deviation from the mean) for the specific metric used to calculate the archetype values. When calculating z-scores forwards were compared to forwards and defensemen were compared to defensemen. Positive values indicate the player is above average and shaded in blue, while negative values indicate the player is below average and shaded in punk. The five year trend charts show a range of -4.0 to 4.0.

The value shown for Faceoffs is the faceoff winning percentage rather than their z-score with winning percentages below 50 in pink shades and above 50 in blue shades.

All archetypes are 5v5 except 5v4 TOI, 4v5 TOI and Faceoffs (all situations). Archetypes use regular season data only.

Archetypes Summary

Producer - Measures a players ability to produce goals and assists, adjusted for quality of teammates.
Playmaker - Measures whether a players points come from passes.
Shooter - Measures whether a players points come from shots (goals or assists on rebounds from his shots).
Sniper - Measures the to score above the expected goal rate.
Rebound - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rebounds (forwards only).
Rush - Measures the percent of a players shot attempts that come from rush plays
Skating - An indicator of a players skating ability, or speed bursts above 20mph per mile skated.
Defend - An indicator of a players ability to suppress shot quality against.
5v5 TOI - The percentage of his teams 5v5 TOI that the player was on the ice for.
5v4 TOI - Powerplay ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 5v4 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
4v5 TOI - Penalty Kill ice time, calculated as the percentage of his teams 4v5 ice time that the player was on the ice for.
Possession - An indicator of a players ability to improve his teams puck possession game.
Drive - Measures a players ability to drive puck possession and generate shot attempts for his team.
Suppress - Measures a players ability to suppress opponent puck possession and shot attempts against.
Faceoffs - Faceoff Winning Percentage (min. 75 faceoffs taken).

Read Introducing Player Archetypes on HockeyAnalysis.com for more details on archetype calculations.

Data Sources

Salary data is from TheStanleyCap.com
Shooting and Skating (except Sh%AE) are from NHL Edge
Other statistics are from Puckalytics.com and derived from data from NHL.com

5v5 Individual Stats

Season	Team(s)	GP	TOI	G/60	A/60	Pts/60	xG/60	GAE/60	Sh%	xSh%	Sh%AE	%SA Rush	%SA Reb.
2021-22	WPG	4	41:47	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.32	-0.32	0.00	3.17	-3.17	0.00	0.00
2022-23	MTL	77	1154:34	0.16	0.62	0.78	0.25	-0.09	3.45	5.47	-2.03	0.79	2.38
2023-24	MTL	62	857:57	0.42	0.42	0.84	0.19	0.23	13.64	6.17	7.46	1.35	5.41
2024-25	NJD	81	1352:08	0.04	0.67	0.71	0.11	-0.07	1.43	3.64	-2.21	0.00	0.83
2025-26	NJD	34	543:08	0.00	0.66	0.66	0.21	-0.21	0.00	6.44	-6.44	0.00	1.89

5v5 On Ice Stats

Season	Team(s)	GP	TOI	SAF/60	GF/60	xGF/60	SAA/60	GA/60	xGA/60	GF%	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
2021-22	WPG	4	41:47	45.95	1.44	2.59	28.72	0.00	1.95	100.00	57.10	0.38	-0.66	11.17
2022-23	MTL	77	1154:34	39.08	2.70	2.56	41.47	2.75	2.71	49.52	48.58	0.27	-0.31	5.43
2023-24	MTL	62	857:57	38.95	2.66	2.35	43.57	1.96	2.65	57.58	47.04	-0.04	-0.16	0.97
2024-25	NJD	81	1352:08	37.36	2.04	2.12	35.94	1.91	2.07	51.69	50.58	-0.35	-0.33	-0.09
2025-26	NJD	34	543:08	42.20	2.32	2.69	40.21	2.65	2.75	46.67	49.52	0.07	0.13	-0.55

NHL Edge Stats

		Skating				Shooting					Zone Time
Season	GP	Top Speed	Bursts>20/mi	Avg. Speed	ES Avg. Speed	Top Speed	Avg. Speed	%Long Range	%Mid Range	%High Danger	ES DZ%	ES NZ%	ES OZ%
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Legend

Percentile 0-25

Percentile 25-50

Percentile 50-75

Percentile 75-100

Forwards are compared with forwards and Defensemen are are compared with Defensemen.

5v5 Defense Pairs

Season

Season	Teammate	Team	TOI	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	xGF/60	xGA/60	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
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Glossary

Type	Statistic	Definition
Individual	G/60	Goals Against per 60 minutes.
Individual	A/60	Assists per 60 minutes.
Individual	Pts/60	Points per 60 minutes.
Individual	xG/60	Expected Goals per 60 minutes.
Individual	GAE/60	Goals Above Expected (G/60 - xG/60).
Individual	Sh%	Shooting Percentage.
Individual	xSh%	Expected Shooting Percentage.
Individual	Sh%AE	Shooting percentage above expected (Sh% - xSh%).
Individual	%SA Rush	Percentage of shot attempts determined to be on the rush.
Individual	%SA Reb.	Percentage of shot attempts determined to be from rebounds.
On Ice	SAF/60	Shot Attempts For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	GF/60	Goals For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	xGF/60	Expected Goals For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	SAA/60	Shot Attempts Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	GA/60	Goals Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	xGA/60	Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	GF%	Goals For Percentage = Goals For / (Goals For + Goals Against)
On Ice	xGF%	Expected Goals For Percentage = Expected Goals For / (Expected Goals For + Expected Goals Against)
On Ice	xGF Rel	xGF/60 when On Ice - xGF/60 when not On Ice.
On Ice	xGA Rel	xGA/60 when On Ice - xGA/60 when not On Ice (lower is better).
On Ice	xGF% Rel	xGF% when On Ice - xGF% when not On Ice.

Individual and On-Ice stats from Puckalytics.com (starting in 2015-16). NHL Edge Stats from edge.nhl.com (starting in 2021-22). Edge statistic definitions can be found at the Edge Stats Glossary.

News and Opinions

DAB Report Card: Johnathan Kovacevic, D at Devils Army (Wed Apr 29, 2026)
New Jersey Devils’ 2025-26 Report Cards: Johnathan Kovacevic at The Hockey Writers (Mon Apr 27, 2026)
The Devils And Their Simon Nemec Situation at All About the Jersey (Wed Mar 11, 2026)
Rumored New Jersey Devils defenseman up for trade says he won't waive no-trade clause at Pucks and Pitchforks (Fri Mar 6, 2026)
Devils Trade Deadline Preview: Trade Or Keep at Devils Army (Fri Mar 6, 2026)
Canadiens could revisit Johnathan Kovacevic as Devils shop right-shot defenseman at Habs Fanatics (Mon Mar 2, 2026)
Coming Off Another Loss, Devils End Back-To-Back Set In Pittsburgh at Devils Army (Thu Feb 26, 2026)
Devils Gameday Preview: Taking on the Jets in Winnipeg at The Hockey Writers (Sun Jan 11, 2026)
A Breakdown of (Mostly) Every Signing Tom Fitzgerald Has Made Since Becoming Devils General Manager at All About the Jersey (Wed Dec 17, 2025)
Les Devils perdent les services de Johnathan Kovacevic à long terme at HABSolument Fan (Thu Sep 18, 2025)
Johnathan Kovacevic Injury Leaves Opening on Devils’ Blue Line at Yahoo Sports NHL (Tue Aug 26, 2025)
Is Johnathan Kovacevic a Candidate for LTIR? at All About the Jersey (Wed Jul 23, 2025)
Devils Sweep Wild, Move Closer to Playoff Berth at Devils Army (Tue Apr 1, 2025)
Midseason Report Cards: Defensemen and Goalies at Devils Army (Thu Jan 16, 2025)

Current Contract

Johnathan Kovacevic signed a $20,000,000 5-year contract with the New Jersey Devils and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald on March 7, 2025 with an AAV of $4,000,000. This contract will start in 2025-26 and end after the 2029-30 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 4.19% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2025-26	28	NTC	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	-	$3,000,000	$2,250,000	$5,250,000	$5,250,000	UFA
2026-27	29	NTC	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	-	$3,000,000	$1,750,000	$4,750,000	$4,750,000	UFA
2027-28	30	M-NTC	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	-	$2,000,000	$1,700,000	$3,700,000	$3,700,000	UFA
2028-29	31	M-NTC	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	-	$1,000,000	$2,150,000	$3,150,000	$3,150,000	UFA
2029-30	32	M-NTC	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	-	-	$3,150,000	$3,150,000	$3,150,000	UFA
Total					-	$9,000,000	$11,000,000	$20,000,000	$20,000,000

Signed: Mar 7, 2025

Team: New Jersey Devils

GM: Tom Fitzgerald

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 4.19

Clause: Full no trade clause in 2025-26 and 2026-27 and a 10 team no trade list in 2027-28, 2028-29 and 2029-30.

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

Johnathan Kovacevic signed a $2,300,000 3-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on July 22, 2022 with an AAV of $766,667. This contract will start in 2022-23 and end after the 2024-25 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 0.93% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2022-23	25	$766,667	$766,667	-	-	$750,000	$750,000	$150,000	RFA-arb
2023-24	26	$766,667	$766,667	-	-	$775,000	$775,000	$250,000	RFA-arb
2024-25	27	$766,667	$766,667	-	-	$775,000	$775,000	$775,000	RFA-arb
Total				-	-	$2,300,000	$2,300,000	$1,175,000

Signed: July 22, 2022

Team: Winnipeg Jets

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 0.93

Note: Guaranteed minimum salary is $175,000 in 2022-23 and $275,000 in 2023.24.

Johnathan Kovacevic signed a $750,000 1-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on August 12, 2021 with an AAV of $750,000. This contract will start in 2021-22 and end after the 2021-22 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 0.92% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2021-22	24		$750,000	$750,000	-	-	$750,000	$750,000	$90,000	RFA-arb
Total					-	-	$750,000	$750,000	$90,000

Signed: Aug 12, 2021

Team: Winnipeg Jets

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Cap %: 0.92

Johnathan Kovacevic signed a $1,585,000 2-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets and General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff on March 15, 2019 with an AAV of $792,500. This contract will start in 2019-20 and end after the 2020-21 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 0.97% of the salary cap.

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2019-20	22	$792,500	$925,000	$132,500	$92,500	$700,000	$792,500	$70,000	ELC
2020-21	23	$792,500	$925,000	$132,500	$92,500	$700,000	$792,500	$70,000	ELC
Total				$265,000	$185,000	$1,400,000	$1,585,000	$140,000

Signed: Mar 15, 2019

Team: Winnipeg Jets

GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Exp. Status: RFA-arb

Career Statistics

			Regular Season									Playoffs
Season	League	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Shots	Sh%	TOI/G	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Shots	Sh%	TOI/G
2012-13	SCTAMM	Niagara Falls Rivermen Mn Mdgt	40	2	11	13		22
2013-14	Midget	The Hill Academy U16 Prep	66	5	23	28	+12
2014-15	CCHL	Ottawa Jr. Senators	52	5	14	19		20				10		3	3		6
2015-16	CCHL	Ottawa Jr. Senators	21	2	8	10		6
2015-16	CCHL	Hawkesbury Hawks	30	6	20	26		21				10		7	7		10
2016-17	NCAA	Merrimack College	36	3	16	19	+7	30
2017-18	NCAA	Merrimack College	34	2	15	17	-2	14
2018-19	NCAA	Merrimack College	31	4	14	18	-10	14
2018-19	AHL	Manitoba Moose	1	1	1	2	+2	2
2019-20	AHL	Manitoba Moose	45	4	8	12	+10	33
2020-21	AHL	Manitoba Moose	29	2	12	14	+10	23
2021-22	NHL	Winnipeg Jets	4	0	0	0	+1	2	7	0.0	10:49
2021-22	AHL	Manitoba Moose	62	11	19	30	+23	45				5				-4	2
2022-23	NHL	Montréal Canadiens	77	3	12	15	+3	39	92	3.3	17:25
2023-24	NHL	Montréal Canadiens	62	6	7	13	+11	42	46	13.0	16:31
2024-25	NHL	New Jersey Devils	81	1	16	17	+10	72	76	1.3	19:49	3				-1	2	2	0.0	14:00
2025-26	NHL	New Jersey Devils	34	0	8	8		38	30	0.0	17:52
NHL Career			258	10	43	53	+25	193	251	4.0	17:55	3				-1	2	2	0.0	14:00