The Devils are discussing the idea of potentially trying to re-sign defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli (video link). Acquired for a fourth-round pick from Montreal in the summer to add defensive depth, the 27-year-old is logging nearly 20 minutes a game for New Jersey and has become an important piece of their back end. His presence helped push Simon Nemec to the minors, something the youngster recently voiced some frustration about; keeping Kovacevic could make it a bit harder for Nemec to get back to the NHL. Signed to a cap hit below the league minimum this season, Kovacevic could push for $3MM or more on the open market if his second half play is similar to how things went in the first few months.
More from the Metropolitan:
- Still with the Devils, prospect Mikhail Yegorov has found a new place to play. USHL Omaha announced that the goaltender has transferred to play at Boston University, effective immediately, a rare midseason enrolment. The 18-year-old was a second-round pick by New Jersey last June, going 49th overall. Yegorov improved his save percentage with the Lancers by 20 points this year, going from .892 to .912 but won just three of his 19 outings. He’ll now get his feet wet at the college level and becomes the 14th NHL-drafted player on the Terriers.
- Earlier this week, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported (Twitter link) that the Blue Jackets are open to the idea of holding onto their pending unrestricted free agents. Widely expected to be near the bottom of the division this season, Columbus instead has been on a nice run as of late to get into a Wild Card spot. The sustainability of that position will be challenged over the next couple of months but given the value of a young core playing meaningful games down the stretch, it seems it might not be a given that their rentals will move if they slide back in the standings over the coming weeks.
- The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Kris Letang was scratched from tonight’s game due to illness. The 37-year-old had a quiet first half of the season by his standards, collecting seven goals and 10 assists in 40 games while still logging over 23 minutes a night of playing time. That comes on the heels of putting up 51 points just last season.