At the time, the Johnathan Kovacevic trade to the New Jersey Devils made sense. It was at least logical for Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes to open up a spot on the right side on defense with prospects Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher knocking at the door.
Of course, Mailloux, was recently demoted to the American Hockey League and Reinbacher, even without having gotten injured this preseason, probably wasn’t going to make the cut out of training camp anyway. Neither of them are ready. However, with both Kovacevic and fellow-righty David Savard poised to hit unrestricted free agency next summer, Hughes faced a couple of critical decisions:
- Is there any point in re-signing one or both of them?
- How long does he wait to trade each (or lose them for nothing) if not?
The answer to the first question is in fact “not.” It’s unlikely either one would be happy with a short-term deal to serve as a glorified stop-gap measure to align with the Canadiens’ timeline to contend, to effectively bridge the team from the present to the point at which both Mailloux and Reinbacher would be ready to take their next steps. On top of that, heading into 2024-25, the realistic hope had probably been each prospect was on the verge of making it, if not this year than next. So, parting ways with both veterans was in the cards.
The answer to the second question is less clear. Justin Barron is no longer exempt from waivers. The Canadiens also decided to keep Lane Hutson out of training camp, thereby effectively forcing Kaiden Guhle to take up another spot on the right side on defense, thereby in theory leaving a single full-time one open on the right for Kovacevic and Savard. When Kovacevic had gotten traded in late June, Jordan Harris, who ultimately got traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Patrik Laine deal, had still been on the team. Despite being a lefty, head coach Martin St. Louis tended to slot him in on his opposite side. So, one can see if Hughes felt like he couldn’t wait to the trade deadline to move both veterans.
Related: Canadiens Must Reassess Seventh-Defenseman Needs for 2024-25
This is where things get dicey. Kovacevic is only 27, having displayed an impressive balance between defensive awareness and puck-movement ability. Savard is 34 and, despite a surge in his output in 2023-24, isn’t as adept at both ends of the ice. Ideally, Hughes would have traded Savard and kept Kovacevic, especially since he’s still young and, were anything to go wrong in the development of Mailloux/Reinbacher, he could still justifiably make up a key, defensively sound component of the team’s back-end for years to come.
Canadiens Currently Suck Defensively
Well, something has gone wrong. And that’s not just in reference to Reinbacher’s injury, which seriously sucks something furious. The Canadiens have been playing horrible defense. They’ve given up the fifth-highest amount of shots per game (31.9). They’ve allowed 29 goals over their last six games. They rank last in the entire league in expected goals against percentage at five-on-five (as of Nov. 5, per MoneyPuck.com).
It’s easy to argue the Canadiens are worse off defensively than last season, despite the projected organic growth of the young defense corps, despite Hughes and executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton having suggested ahead of this season that they envision the team being in the mix for a playoff spot. Less than one month into the season, while that’s still possible, they’re 4-7-1, already four points out, last in the Atlantic Division and looking more and more like a lottery team.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. And the loss of Kovacevic on defense is the biggest glaring difference for the worse as to why it’s turned out like it has. Of course, he’s just one player, someone who played a relatively forgettable 16:31 per game last season (which ranked sixth among all full-time Canadiens defensemen). However, part of the reason those minutes were so forgettable is because Kovacevic wasn’t noticeable, which is kind of what you hope for in a defensive defenseman: someone who doesn’t make mistakes. If Stanley Cup contenders can seek out role players as missing pieces to the puzzle every March or so to push them over the top, the idea that Kovacevic could be the player to turn this team into a legitimate playoff contender isn’t so crazy.
Kovacevic vs. Savard
Ironically, one of those missing pieces was Savard to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. Playing a sixth-ranked 14:07 among Bolts defensemen that postseason, Savard helped them win the Stanley Cup. Considering what the Lightning gave the Columbus Blue Jackets to get him at the time, the value of a soon-to-be unrestricted-free-agent defenseman, even one playing at the bottom of the lineup, is fairly clear. So, while Hughes probably felt like he had to trade one veteran defenseman to make room, the fourth-round pick he got back was less than ideal. The entire situation has been just that in retrospect, with the better defenseman of the two having gotten traded.
Now, based on the objective perspective Kovacevic is that better defenseman, maybe the Devils only wanted him. Maybe Hughes found it hard to unload Savard. Ultimately, based on how this season has gone so far from a defensive standpoint and the heightened expectations the management group helped set heading into it, that doesn’t matter. Kovacevic would be a sight for sore eyes on the team’s blue line, especially in light of reports the Canadiens were looking to acquire a top-four defenseman not too long ago.
Some may say Kovacevic isn’t a top-four defenseman, based on his average time on ice last season. However, he’s getting the third-most on the Devils’ blue line. He’s also making the most of it, making the decision to trade him, at least when the Canadiens did, a huge miscalculation. It may be the biggest Hughes has ever made, all things taken into consideration.
To Hughes’ credit, he’s done a fine job of laying a great foundation for a contending team in the future. He hasn’t been perfect, though. Montreal Gazette writer Brendan Kelly argued recently the acquisitions of Barron, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook have each been mistakes. It’s not that simple, just because they each haven’t worked out as perfectly as initially hoped.
For those who say "in HuGo we trust", think about what my pal said. 'Barron, Dach, and Newhook are some of the worst moves we've made since the rebuild.' Boom. Three bad trades. I'm not saying fire anyone. Just stop saying these dudes never mistakes. There's three for you.
— Brendan Kelly (@brendanshowbiz) November 3, 2024
Dach, when healthy, has shown signs of being a potential No. 1 centre. Giving up defensive-defenseman Alexander Romanov in exchange still represents a worthwhile price to pay if he can become even an average No. 2. Newhook meanwhile had a great first season with the Canadiens in 2023-24, during which he set career highs in goals and points despite having played just 55 games. He may have had a bad start to the season, but all he cost was 31st and 37th-overall picks, who, statistically, won’t end up impact players in the NHL. Any sensible GM makes that trade 10 times out of 10.
As for Barron, defending his development or lack thereof is obviously harder. The player who went the other way, Artturi Lehkonen, has emerged as a top-six forward for the Colorado Avalanche. Barron hasn’t established himself as an NHL defenseman yet, despite his waiver situation having forced the Habs’ hands.
There’s still hope Barron, an offensive-minded top-four defenseman in principle that the Canadiens still need, arguably more than another winger in Lehkonen, will pan out. He’s just 23 after all. Furthermore, the second-round pick the Habs also got in the trade helped acquire the pick used to select first-round-pick Michael Hage. So, not all is lost on that front.
Kovacevic Trade an Unforced Hughes Error
On the Kovacevic front, not all is lost either. The trade amounts to an unforced error on Hughes’ part, based on what we know now. Based on what he knew then too, he didn’t exactly have to pull the trigger. He by all appearances made a judgment call, just like he made the call to openly suggest the Canadiens would be much more competitive this season. That may have been premature.
Hughes can still be right in that regard. A lot would have to change for the better for that to be case though, starting on defense. Considering Kovacevic would be a good fit for what ails them, he was also wrong there. He’s allowed to make mistakes though, just as long as he sticks to the master plan of not rushing the rebuild. So, it’s not about bowing to criticism and external pressure to improve the team sooner than expected, but learning from his inevitable mistakes so that the team he has built improves organically as intended.
With Kovacevic having been Hughes’ own waiver-wire acquisition, he deserves credit for having seen in him what other teams didn’t initially. Hughes just lacked the foresight to predict how much he could have contributed this season. Hindsight being what it is, it’s admittedly all too easy on the part of outsiders to second-guess him.
Hughes should be held to account, but, when we’re talking about a team that finished fifth from last a season ago, a team that has still shown year-over-year progression in terms of points in the standings on his watch, maybe consider his body of work as a whole before throwing stones? Kovacevic will go down as the team’s forgotten defenseman, an underappreciated piece who probably left too soon. No one should hope Hughes follows in his footsteps.
