The Canadiens have been a popular team in trade talks lately. Veteran netminder Jake Allen is drawing significant interest from teams looking for help between the pipes, and their surplus of young defense prospects has made some think a move to clear space is coming sooner rather than later. Some have discussed veteran David Savard as being the odd man out, but notably, shutdown specialist Johnathan Kovacevic was a healthy scratch in Thursday’s game against the Hurricanes upon Jordan Harris’ return from injury.
Kovacevic is, by most accounts, the Canadiens’ most adept chance-limiting defender. Acquired via waiver claim from the Jets early in the 2022-23 season, Kovacevic has gone from unknown rearguard to Canadiens blueline staple in a relatively short amount of time. However, as his five points through 33 games suggest, he’s not much of a two-way threat. In all situations, nearly 76.7% of his zone starts have been in the defensive end this season, way up even from last season’s 61.3% mark. At even strength, that number still skews conservative with a defensive zone start percentage of 70.
Even still, Kovacevic could carry some significant trade value if the Canadiens decide he’s on the outside looking in on their long-term core. His expected plus-minus rating of +1.9 is the highest among active Montreal defenders this season, and he averages 2:39 per game on the penalty kill. Toss in the fact that he’s a highly-coveted right-shot defenseman, and you have a player a contending team would love to pick up for the low cost of $767K against the cap at the trade deadline.
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