Montreal Canadiens: Johnny Kovacevic Fits Habs Need, But Will They Look For More?
The Montreal Canadiens preseason is finally over and the regular season is upon us. The Habs will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night to kick off the 2022-23 campaign.
To round out the roster before the regular season arrives, the Canadiens picked up Jonathan Kovacevic yesterday. He was available on waivers, and since the Habs finished in last place last season, they had the top priority to the waiver claim.
The 25 year old right defender played for the Winnipeg Jets last season in four games, staying in the AHL for the majority of the year. There, he scored 11 goals and 30 points in 62 games with the Manitoba Moose.
Canadiens find perfect fit with Kovacevic, but is there more coming?
Kovacevic being a big, right shot defender who is a few years older than the likes of Arber Xhekaj, Mattias Norlinder, William Trudeau and Justin Barron makes him a perfect fit for the Habs. They could use a stopgap defender who has a bit of upside, but is likely to be passed over on the depth chart next season.
For now, the aforementioned 20-21 year old defenders can play in the AHL with the Laval Rocket and won’t be forced to play too many NHL games that they aren’t ready for. Kovacevic is more NHL ready having played three seasons in Manitoba, and being 25 years old, and can be used in a depth role for the Canadiens without ruining the development of a 20 year old.
But are the Canadiens done with waivers just yet? They probably should not be. They still have the first dibs on players until at least October 31st, and there are some interesting players on the waiver wire already.
Martin Kaut was a first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche in 2018. He played last season in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles where he scored 19 goals and 31 points in 46 games. He had 16 points in 20 games with the Eagles the previous season. He is a 6’2″ and 190 pound right winger which isn’t a position of great need, but with a couple of injuries at the moment, the Habs could use another skilled depth forward.
Chase Priskie is a similar profile to Kovacevic. He is a 26 year old right shot defender who scored 31 points in 54 games for the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. He was a prized NCAA free agent signing a couple years ago, but hasn’t really broken through at the NHL level. Still, he could be counted on to play a depth role and keep the youngest Habs D out of the NHL for another year.
Mark Friedman was placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 26 year old is a veteran of 42 NHL games over the past three seasons as he split time between the NHL and AHL. He is the ideal number six or seven guy but as a right shot he is a little redundant with Kovacevic.
Perhaps the Habs will be interested in Jusso Valimaki, a former first round pick of the Calgary Flames. The Finnish defender appeared destined to be a top four defender for the Flames until he missed the entire 20219-20 season with injury. He scored 18 points in 35 AHL games last season, but has that pedigree from a couple years ago where he looked like a potential star.
He also shoots left and could eat some minutes while Joel Edmundson and Mike Matheson are injured.
Heck, with the way Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau played in the preseason, even Joey Daccord would make some sense as a waiver claim after posting a 2.28 GAA and a .925 SV% in the AHL last season.
With the regular season fast approaching, teams are having to make those painful final cuts. That means the players that are hitting waivers are better and better every day. The Canadiens already pounced once when they saw a fit, and could very well do so again as soon as today.
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