{"id":385489,"date":"2026-01-03T13:23:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/385489\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T13:23:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:23:08","slug":"did-devils-break-nhl-rule-deputy-commissioner-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/385489\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Devils break NHL rule? Deputy commissioner reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Devils<\/a> defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic<\/a> stepped on the ice Friday looking like a player who could suit up for a game that same night. <\/p>\n

He poked away pucks, kept pace with opposing forwards and played that same tenacious brand of hockey that earned him a contract extension last season.<\/p>\n

And yet, because of his offseason knee surgery, he remains on long term injured reserve.<\/p>\n

But is he still truly nursing an injury? Or is he just on LTIR because general manager Tom Fitzgerald<\/a> can\u2019t clear the cap space required for him to return? He\u2019s participated in five practices this month, so many fans have wondered if it\u2019s the latter. If that were the case, the NHL would surely step in to investigate the true nature of Kovacevic\u2019s condition.<\/p>\n

HAVE YOU JOINED OUR YOUTUBE PAGE? DEVILS REPORTER RYAN NOVOZINSKY BREAKS DOWN EVERY GAME \u2014 WITH YOUR HELP<\/a><\/p>\n

Apparently, that\u2019s not going to happen. In an email sent to NJ Advance Media Friday, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league does not plan on investigating the Devils for sidestepping the LTIR rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of Kovacevic\u2019s physical condition and prognosis,\u201d Daly told NJ Advance Media. \u201cThere are no issues or concerns associated with how the team is rehabbing his injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coach Sheldon Keefe echoed this after practice, stating that, while Kovacevic looks sharp, he\u2019s not quite ready for game speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would call this probably the first real practice he\u2019s had, even though it only lasted 25 minutes or so,\u201d Keefe said of Kovacevic, who last played on April 25, 2025. \u201cFirst real practice with pace and physicality. He looked good to me. That\u2019s one of the boxes he needs to check. I\u2019m sure there\u2019ll be a couple more opportunities to get him those reps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for our Speaking of the Devils newsletter here<\/a>! Get 10 inside-Devils notes in your inbox each Monday at 10 a.m. ET!<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see how much longer it takes him to return\/what Fitzgerald does to clear space when he does. The 28-year-old defensive-minded defenseman logged a career-best 17 points in 81 games last season. That earned him a four-year, $4 million contract extension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic stepped on the ice Friday looking like a player who could suit up for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-385489","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}