The Devils’ blue line is getting a shakeup, and the latest move sends Johnathan Kovacevic to injured reserve while opening the door for Anton Silaev.
New Jersey announced Friday that Kovacevic has been placed on IR with an ankle injury. To fill his spot, the team recalled Silaev from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League.
Kovacevic, 29, sat out Thursday’s 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals after getting hurt in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The injury came when Jets defenseman Tyrel Bauer cross-checked him to the ice.
The Grimsby, Ontario native had already missed the first five games of the season while working back from knee surgery he had in May. Through 13 games this year, he has not scored and has two assists, while averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time.
Kovacevic’s path to New Jersey has included stops in Winnipeg and Montreal. Drafted by the Jets in the third round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, he appeared in only four games for Winnipeg before being claimed off waivers by the Canadiens in October 2022. He spent two seasons in Montreal before the Devils acquired him ahead of the 2024-25 season in a deal that sent a 2026 fourth-round pick the other way.
He is in the second season of a five-year, $20 million contract.
Silaev, 20, now gets his first NHL call. The Devils took him 10th overall in the 2024 Draft, and this is his first year in North America after spending most of the last three seasons with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod in the KHL.
He has not played in an NHL game yet, but he has four assists in 12 games with Utica and no goals. Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis ranked Silaev as the Devils’ second-best prospect this past offseason.
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