Kovacevic Grateful to College Coach Dennehy | BLOG

Jonathan Kovacevic already has some familiarity with his new teammates in New Jersey. He's played in Winnipeg with defenseman Brendan Dillon, he knows goaltender Jake Allen from his time in Montreal and Nathan Bastian from being Ontario boys. But someone he might know the very best works behind the scenes at the New Jersey Devils and is a big part of why he is where he is today. 

That man is Mark Dennehy, now the Devils Chief Scout of Amateur Scouting, who was Kovacevic's head coach at Merrimack College. 

"Coach Dennehy was crucial in my development," Kovacevic said, "When I first came into Merrimack, I wasn't a highly touted recruit or anything like that. And my first year, he really saw something in me and he allowed me to make mistakes, he allowed me to have a long leash and to figure out my game."

"It didn't take long once you got out to watch him in the Ottawa league to realize, 'Wow, this kid has potential'," Dennehy said. "First of all, you can't teach size and his hand skills, especially at the collegiate level were excellent, he made good plays. He was growing into his body, but I just felt like 'Hey, if this kid grows into his body and his feet get better, he's going to have a chance. And it didn't take him long."

Kovacevic, 26, has yet to play 150 games in the NHL, but has progressively grabbed on to every opportunity that’s come his way. After being placed on waivers by Winnipeg in 2022, Kovacevic was picked up by the Montreal Canadiens where he played 77 and 62 games respectively over the last two seasons. In 2023-24 he contributed six goals and averaged 16:31 time on ice.

He also was in a unique position of being an older guy - by age - paired up with some younger defensemen, also learning their way through the league.

"You can just connect with guys easily," Kovacevic said, "and you put yourself in their shoes. For me it was, I'm in a little more of a unique situation in that I came into the NHL at 25, 26 (years old). So I am older, but I'm in the same situation as some of those younger D. But I had been through a lot of similar situations in the AHL. Although I'm older, it's very relatable for me, and you can just bounce ideas off each other. It helps your development by seeing these fresh perspectives or these fresh faces going through it. It definitely gives you a lot of energy as well."

It was that quote that Dennehy said should tell you all you need to know about Kovacevic.

"He's incredibly humble," Dennehy shared. "I watched his interview and he's talking about learning from the younger players. Humility is something that I think people take for granted. He's not going to rest on his laurels. As a pro hockey player you earn your job every day. You're not going to have to remind him of that. He wants to get better. And if a young player can learn from that, or learn anything, it's that as good as you are, one of my favorite quotes is 'Nothing stays the same. You're either getting better or you're getting worse.

"Jonathan Kovacevic is always working to get better."