Canadiens’ Johnathan Kovacevic has found some permanence after long road to NHL

MONTREAL — The Canadiens had a difficult night Tuesday against a team that plays the way they aspire to play, on top of their opponents, forcing turnovers, spending large swaths of time in the offensive zone. At age 25, after 137 games in the AHL over three years, after being drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in his third year of eligibility, after being cut twice in the OHL before playing Junior ‘A’ and attending unheralded Merrimack College, and finally after being a waiver claim in the first year he was waiver eligible, Kovacevic got the news he had waited so long and worked so hard to hear. “I think he was unknown to a lot of us, probably everyone, but he’s come in here and first off he’s a great guy, so he’s jelled in this locker room,” goaltender Jake Allen said. You’re new to the city, new surroundings, new people, jumping right into the NHL right away for a guy that didn’t have a lot of experience, so I think you’ve got to give him a lot of credit for the way he’s handled himself and the way he’s played.” What jumps out immediately about Kovacevic is how humble he is, how grateful he is to be in the NHL, something he doubted was possible when he was getting cut from elite-level teams year after year. For all of us, it’s an incredible honour to play for the Habs, but for him, it means a lot.” To get a sense of how down-to-earth Kovacevic is, he didn’t even think the fact the Canadiens told him to find a place to live was newsworthy.