Claimed off Waivers: [MTL] Canadiens claim D Johnathan Kovacevic off waivers from the Jets

[Jeune Poulet]

Montreal was 1st in the waiver order - for all we know 30 other teams put a claim in on him.

I don’t know if by saying “a lot of teams would also underrate him And they did“ is fair.

It's possible but I doubt it. If all (or most) teams would have been willing to put a claim, then there is a market for the player, and you trade him for a 4th or 6th rounder. It's not like teams hang on to those very dearly.

Most probably, the hockey community wasn't so hot on this guy's NHL potential and the Jets took a chance to waive him. David Savard was our only legit right hand shot (With Wideman, who is garbage) so it made sense to claim a guy.

 

[a mangy Meowth]

25 years old, 6'4 RHD playing 17 minutes a night including 2 on the PK. He's a +5 on a team that's -12. Signed for 3 more years at under 800k a year. Even if he never develops an inch beyond what he is now he's a great asset to have on the bottom pairing. Could he fall off a cliff? Sure, almost any player could.

Yeah, that's really not anything to gloat about though. Not that you have been, but others certainly have.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

You think they didn't check around? Most teams face difficult decisions at the start of the season having to waive players to meet their roster limits. Other teams often just wait to see if someone better than what they have comes available.

I think they had some kind of awareness, yes. And there was probably little to no market that they could see.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

You don't even know how to spell his name, and yet you're wanting us to think you have some deep insight into this players game that the rest of us PLUS the Winnipeg club doesn't? Come on man...

This is embarrassing.

What kind of special insight do you think I have claimed to have?

You're being ridiculous, here. All I'm saying is that as an effective bottom pairing D, considering his salary, his age... it's pretty obvious he is currently a positive value asset, in a league where certain teams with playoffs aspirations ice pretty terrible defensemen and the Panthers are almost using necromantic magic on the Staal brothers.

Are you seriously arguing he is not a positive value asset at this point? That would be more ridiculous than a spelling mistake. Thank you for pointing it out, BTW. I hate making those.

 

[larmex99]

Jets have been pretty good assessors of talent and made few mistakes to date. Remember Joel Armia? They determined that he was expendable and was traded to the Habs, who gave him a moronic contract not based on his actual performance. Now they are trying to unload him and his contract.
on a good team JK is a solid 7/8. That speaks more to the Habs level of play than the Jet’s ability to assess talent imo. Time will tell, huh?

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Jets have been pretty good assessors of talent and made few mistakes to date. Remember Joel Armia? They determined that he was expendable and was traded to the Habs, who gave him a moronic contract not based on his actual performance. Now they are trying to unload him and his contract.
on a good team JK is a solid 7/8. That speaks more to the Habs level of play than the Jet’s ability to assess talent imo. Time will tell, huh?

Armia didn't come here and get his bad contract, he came here played well, then got this contract and sucks.

 

[larmex99]

Armia didn't come here and get his bad contract, he came here played well, then got this contract and sucks.

No, he sucked half the time since forever. Playing well half the time should get you half a contract.

 

[ole ole]

Yeah, that's really not anything to gloat about though. Not that you have been, but others certainly have.

A 25 years old, 6'4 RHD playing 17 minutes a night including 2 on the PK. He's a +5 on a team that's -12. Signed for 3 more years at under 800k a year is something to gloat about.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

We run a full complement of good defensemen down the right side, and Kovacevic was simply nowhere near bypassing any of them. There was no room for him on the roster this year short of an injury call-up from the minors, and likely not next year either. If, somehow, we traded Kovacevic for someone equivalent, we would still need to put them through waivers, and training camp roster cuts are already a very busy time. Chevy is a very fair man, he will waive prospects to give them a shot to succeed elsewhere, sometimes multiple times (see: Comrie). Seeing as everyone has a few Kovacevics in their system, not everyone is drooling to get the guy. If someone claims him, good for the player. If not, he'll play in the minors and may get NHL ice time if injuries pile up. There will be many more players of a similar caliber waived in the next 12 months, we're not sweating it.

 

[Scintillating10]

He's fringe defenseman to me.

 

[viceroy]

Montreal's methodology seems to be an ancient one.

It got us to the Stanley Cup Finals a year and a half ago. Just FYI solid no-nonsense D are worth their weight in gold in the playoffs.

He's alright, but I don't see him being anything more than a decent #5/6.

A solid young-ish bottom-pairing RD is a great find.

Very weird way to spell Jonathan.

That's how he spells it.

Yeah I bet back in September Habs fans would have been clamoring for him

Yeah a lot of us were expecting Barron to take that spot but he was still a bit too green.

The thing is that he is a 25 year old rookie and has most likely maxed in his potential.

If all he ever is, is a good bottom pairing RD then that's solid in my book.

on a good team JK is a solid 7/8. That speaks more to the Habs level of play than the Jet’s ability to assess talent imo. Time will tell, huh?

Nice, the Jets are set for RD. Most teams aren't. We're happy with Kovacevic, I don't know why you guys are so bent outta shape over this. Is this over eliminating you guys in 4 straight 18 months ago?

He's fringe defenseman to me.

Peeved he got the tap in instead of Barron?

 

[Scintillating10]

It got us to the Stanley Cup Finals a year and a half ago. Just FYI solid no-nonsense D are worth their weight in gold in the playoffs.



A solid young-ish bottom-pairing RD is a great find.



That's how he spells it.



Yeah a lot of us were expecting Barron to take that spot but he was still a bit too green.



If all he ever is, is a good bottom pairing RD then that's solid in my book.



Nice, the Jets are set for RD. Most teams aren't. We're happy with Kovacevic, I don't know why you guys are so bent outta shape over this. Is this over eliminating you guys in 4 straight 18 months ago?



Peeved he got the tap in instead of Barron?

He's just taking ice time away from a Harris type. I don't see the gain

 

[DEANYOUNGBLOOD17]

The Jets knew what they were giving up!

They had a choice between Kovy and Copobianco for their 7 th / 8 th defence man .They chose Copobianco and he has played 3 games. Last year Copobianco played 45 games for Arizona and had 9 points.

Both players are paid $750 k ….. with Kovy signed for 2 more years and Big C signed for next year as well.

If the Jets would have kept Kovy and exposed Big C …… Big C would have been taken off waivers and Kovy would have 3 games played on the Jets instead of 20 plus with Montreal!

I kinda wish the Jets would have stayed with Kovy…… as they drafted and developed him for 5 years. They chose Copobianco who their pro scouts grabbed in free agency!

Good for Kovy that he ended up on Montreal….…. A team with limited defensive depth!

I guess that is how waivers is supposed to work. To prop up weaker teams and give good players the opportunity to play in the NHL and not the AHL.

 

[hn777]

Kovacevic is great. Well-rounded right hand shot with size, also great character. Ridiculous salary.

The only reason this guy was dumped so unceremoniously is because a lot of people are blinded by draft status. He was a late bloomer who was only drafted when he was 20 years old.

This, but also defensemen who can actually defend are underrated (another case from Jets to Habs: Chiarot). Kovacevic is unspectacular offensively, but solid defensively at shot suppression and clearing the crease.

As a Jets fan, I would probably prefer him to offensive D-man Schmidt (who is now 3RD on the Jets) - especially taking cap hit into consideration. That's why the Jets cannot afford to lose/trade away Dillon, he is the only physical defensive D-man, they have these days.

 

[pth2]

You don't even know how to spell his name, and yet you're wanting us to think you have some deep insight into this players game that the rest of us PLUS the Winnipeg club doesn't? Come on man...

This is embarrassing.

As fans of a team that's lost guys like Hainsey and Robidas to waivers, and probably some other players I'm not thinking of, it's best to be humble about the waiver wire. Teams hope to slip guys through, sometimes guys with little trade value at that moment. Rather than get a 7th round pick, teams hope to give a guy ice time and develop him into a real asset. Sometimes this doesn't work.

If a team picks up a lot of guys on waivers and develops them, it also means it was bad enough, and low enough on current NHLers, to give marginal guys ice time to develop. That's nothing to gloat about.

 

[ole ole]

The Jets knew what they were giving up!

They had a choice between Kovy and Copobianco for their 7 th / 8 th defence man .They chose Copobianco and he has played 3 games. Last year Copobianco played 45 games for Arizona and had 9 points.

Both players are paid $750 k ….. with Kovy signed for 2 more years and Big C signed for next year as well.

If the Jets would have kept Kovy and exposed Big C …… Big C would have been taken off waivers and Kovy would have 3 games played on the Jets instead of 20 plus with Montreal!

I kinda wish the Jets would have stayed with Kovy…… as they drafted and developed him for 5 years. They chose Copobianco who their pro scouts grabbed in free agency!

Good for Kovy that he ended up on Montreal….…. A team with limited defensive depth!

I guess that is how waivers is supposed to work. To prop up weaker teams and give good players the opportunity to play in the NHL and not the AHL.

Well said and he's earning his spot so far.

 

[ole ole]

Jets have been pretty good assessors of talent and made few mistakes to date. Remember Joel Armia? They determined that he was expendable and was traded to the Habs, who gave him a moronic contract not based on his actual performance. Now they are trying to unload him and his contract.
on a good team JK is a solid 7/8. That speaks more to the Habs level of play than the Jet’s ability to assess talent imo. Time will tell, huh?

This just screams We put our guy on wavers hoping he would sneak through. He gets pick up now he sucks.

 

[larmex99]

He never sucked and was a good soldier. The fact that he looks good on your team should not be something that you would want to celebrate.

 

[ulf]

I’m POed we found ourselves in a position we had to let him go. So far he’s been a better asset for the Habs then Cobo has been for us. Why the debate. Congrats to Kovy Habs and Cobo your all ahead for this transaction.

 

[lomiller1]

JK leads all Habs players (250+ min played) in xGf%. He's been sheltered but I don't think you can call it bottom pair min either. He's being aggressively kept away from the other teams top line, but after that he's weighted towards the other teams second line with 3rd and 4th line matchups being near average.

I don't think you can call him a stud RHD but he's certainly been one of Montreal's most effective D.


As for "the Jets not valuing him" they gave him a 3 year 1 way contract this last off season, even at only 1 million per, you don't do that for a player you don't value.

 

[ole ole]

He never sucked and was a good soldier. The fact that he looks good on your team should not be something that you would want to celebrate.

The fact that he's been playing good on our team is definitely something to be happy about.
When you claim a guy on waivers and like a fellow poster noted doing this,
[ 25 years old, 6'4 RHD playing 17 minutes a night including 2 on the PK. He's a +5 on a team that's -12. Signed for 3 more years at under 800k a year ]
how could we be not happy about the pickup?

 

[ole ole]

JK leads all Habs players (250+ min played) in xGf%. He's been sheltered but I don't think you can call it bottom pair min either. He's being aggressively kept away from the other teams top line, but after that he's weighted towards the other teams second line with 3rd and 4th line matchups being near average.

I don't think you can call him a stud RHD but he's certainly been one of Montreal's most effective D.


As for "the Jets not valuing him" they gave him a 3 year 1 way contract this last off season, even at only 1 million per, you don't do that for a player you don't value.

Nice post. I don't get why some are knocking the player?
The guy is fitting in pretty good and has steeped up his game to date. Why can't some accept that?
So far has been a very good Waiver pick up.

 

[yianik]

Doesn't matter to me that on an average to good team he is a 7-8-9 Dman. Habs aren't an average to good team.

Guy was picked up to fill in some time for the young guys to develop and compete for NHL jobs. He has more than delivered and on a cheap contract that is easily absorbed if he is beaten out of a job.

Prefer JK to some UFA signing of some 30 plus year old guy for 4 years at $3-$4M per year.

 

[PAZ]

What kind of special insight do you think I have claimed to have?

You're being ridiculous, here. All I'm saying is that as an effective bottom pairing D, considering his salary, his age... it's pretty obvious he is currently a positive value asset, in a league where certain teams with playoffs aspirations ice pretty terrible defensemen and the Panthers are almost using necromantic magic on the Staal brothers.

Are you seriously arguing he is not a positive value asset at this point? That would be more ridiculous than a spelling mistake. Thank you for pointing it out, BTW. I hate making those.

He's a positive asset, but he's still not worth much. Maybe a 4th-6th round pick at this point.

Rebuilding teams don't care about his cap hit, but wouldn't mind him for his age. However, not enough to give up anything of value as he's be viewed as a stopgap. He doesn't have enough experience for contenders nor do coaches like playing rookies in the playoffs.