Kovacevic 'Grilled' by New Jersey Media | BLOG 

When asked about how he heard about his trade to New Jersey, big blueliner Johnny Kovacevic said he was manning the grill at a family barbecue.

“I thought (the trade) would happen around the draft and then thought ‘I’m safe for now’ but the next day, I was here (in Ontario) with family and my aunt came up to me and showed me a text from her friend saying I was traded to New Jersey.

"I was on the barbecue, getting stuff ready for the family. I checked my phone and management in Montreal had called me. I’m excited to be with the Devils and looking forward to the next chapter in my career.”

Kovacevic thought there was a chance he could get traded.

“I knew the Habs had a lot of defensemen, a lot of prospects they wanted to bring up. I was kind of ready for it."

It's the second time he changed teams in his career. Drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in 2017, he was claimed off waivers by Montreal in 2022 and has been an NHL regular ever since.

“I’ve learned so much," Kovacevic said of his time with the Canadiens. "The biggest thing about transitioning to the NHL is the mental game. Just moving on to the next shift. You’re playing every other day, you can’t dwell on a bad play, mistakes happen. Move on. It’s always about the next shift, the next play.”

At 26 years old, Kovacevic feels he still has a lot to grow in his game. 

“I want to continue to push my career forward in New Jersey,” he began. 

“I’m adding more of a physical edge to my game. The two boxes I’m trying to focus on is defending well and being hard to play against. I’ve added chips to both of those boxes.

“I’m not a finished product yet. I’m going to continue to get better and improve.”