Devils News & Rumors: Kovacevic Returns, Milestone Roundup, & More

Just six games in, the 2026-27 season has already been a rollercoaster for the New Jersey Devils. They’ve had two nail-biting overtime wins and a matinee victory, but they’ve also struggled at various points, resulting in a 3-3-0 record. 

After taking a few games to adjust, newcomers are fitting right in, while various line combinations have provided an offensive spark. Special teams are connecting, their top-six production has been steadily increasing, and the Devils even managed to score the opening goal on Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Right now, their biggest priority needs to be maintaining consistency. 

This installment of news and rumors highlights Johnathan Kovacevic’s return to action, an overview of recent milestones, and some interesting trends so far this season. 

Johnathan Kovacevic Returns to the Lineup

As far as injuries go, the Devils have had unfortunate luck with players missing time. Fortunately, a crucial veteran defenseman is back in action. The club activated Kovacevic off of injured reserve (IR) on Saturday, but he did not enter the lineup against the Vancouver Canucks. 

He underwent a minor procedure on his right knee during the offseason, and was a limited participant at training camp. Unfortunately, this was not the first time he missed the beginning of the season since joining the Devils. He was also sidelined at the start of last season, after tearing his ACL in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Kovacevic made his season debut earlier this week, recording 16:00 of ice time against the Red Wings. Interestingly enough, he skated on the third pairing with Declan Chisholm, while Brenden Dillon was a healthy scratch. Together, Kovacevic and Chisholm helped generate seven shot attempts and five scoring chances, two of which came in high-danger scenarios.

Now that Kovacevic is back in the lineup, the Devils have a few options. The Pesce-Hughes line will remain, but the other two pairings can be reconfigured. Dillon and Kovacevic can take turns being the extra defenseman, or Chisholm could be sent down to the Utica Comets. Jonas Siegenthaler has been playing with Dougie Hamilton, but the Siegenthaler-Kovacevic pairing is definitely worth revisiting at some point. It will take time to see what the best-case scenario is, but at least their blue line is a step closer to being fully healthy.

Recent Milestone Roundup

The Devils have had an eventful start to the season, with a number of milestones to celebrate. Timo Meier skated in the 700th NHL game of his career on Oct. 3 against the New York Islanders. Despite being off to a slow start in 2026-27, he’s found a great deal of chemistry on a line with Nico Hischier and Luke Evangelista, which will hopefully be a high-scoring combination this season.

A week later, Jake Allen played in his 500th game, becoming only the ninth active NHL goaltender to do so. He was a force to be reckoned with between the pipes against the Canucks, stopping 20 shots and recording a .952 save percentage (SV%) to lead the Devils to a 4-1 win.

You get a milestone puck, and you get a milestone puck, and you get a milestone puck. https://t.co/U36stmq8un

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) October 10, 2026

Within the same game, the captain scored his 200th NHL goal, finding the back of the net on the power play twice. Hischier notched yet another goal on the man advantage on Tuesday night and is now one away from breaking the tie for third-most goals in Devils’ franchise history.

Amadeus Lombardi also got in on the action against the Canucks, earning his first NHL point. He got an assist on Jesper Boqvist’s goal in the first period, giving the Devils a 2-1 lead.

Finally, Jesper Bratt joined some elite company, recording his 350th assist against the Red Wings. He now ranks fifth overall in franchise assists with 351, after surpassing Travis Zajac.

Interesting Early Stats

The scoreboard sometimes might say that the Devils haven’t quite found their groove yet, but a wide variety of statistics prove otherwise. Across six games, they’ve had 218 shots on goal, which ranks fourth in the league, and the same goes for their 69 high-danger shots on goal. The Devils are creating plenty of scoring opportunities with strong puck possession, but struggle with finishing.

So far this season, they’ve averaged 2.67 goals per game, which is the seventh-worst in the NHL. To make matters worse, they surrender an average of 3.67 goals against each game, which is an 18.8% increase from last season.

When it comes to generating shot attempts, the Devils don’t have any issues. Per MoneyPuck, they have two players in the league’s top ten for shot attempts every 60 minutes: Jack Hughes (24.18) and Meier (23.7). However, the reality is that only four players have recorded three or more points — Hughes, Bratt, Hischier, and Evangelista. So how do they fix this issue moving forward?

It all starts with a stronger 5-on-5 presence, an uptick in secondary scoring, and reinforcing an “attack the net” mindset. If the Devils can maintain a high number of scoring opportunities, the goals will come; it’s just a matter of maximizing skill sets and making a consistent effort across all three periods.