Johnathan Kovacevic got scratched by Sheldon Keefe

For a second year in a row, Jack Hughes will have played only 62 games for the New Jersey Devils. Injured after a heavy fall against the boards in a game against the Golden Knights at the beginning of the month, the 23-year-old American will miss another opportunity to participate in the playoffs in 2025.

After a harvest of 112 points in 2022-2023, the Devils had a relatively disastrous season, compared to expectations, the following year, and now find themselves in a decent situation, on the eve of a return to the playoffs, but without their best player.

After losing 6 of their last 10 games, tensions are rising and yesterday, the head coach lashed out at Johnathan Kovacevic.

It’s a rare phenomenon to see a coach throw a player under the bus, but that’s exactly what he did, and it’s hard to understand why when listening to the defenseman’s comments.

“We’re in a battle that, I hope, will bring us into a playoff mindset, 10 or 11 games from the playoffs, which will translate into playoffs. Obviously, the results are tough, but we’ll fight and we won’t give up.”

– Johnathan Kovacevic

Is that okay, so far?

A journalist from New Jersey reported to Sheldon Keefe that his defenseman had wished for the team to adopt a playoff mindset, and he responded with something that looks a lot like “stop talking and play better.” In reality, Keefe simply replied that “Kovacevic should play better, that would help.”