During his rookie NHL season, he earned All-Rookie Team honours and helped the Panthers advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche.

After three-and-a-half seasons in Florida, Jovanovski was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in a seven-player deal involving Pavel Bure.

In addition to being voted as the Emms Division's top bodychecker by League coaches,[2][3] he was named to the OHL's All-Rookie and Second All-Star Teams.

[2] Czech prospect Radek Bonk was ranked first overall by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau, but Panthers President Bill Torrey preferred to select a defenceman over a forward.

[5] However, then-Panthers General Manager Bryan Murray announced that Jovanovski would remain with Windsor, citing that he would likely not receive much playing time with the club.

[6] Playing with the club during the subsequent pre-season, he broke his right hand during a fight with Hartford Whalers forward Brendan Shanahan.

[9] Ranking fourth in the Eastern Conference going into the 1996 playoffs,[10] Jovanovski helped the Panthers advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.

He scored his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal in Game 2 of the first round against Boston Bruins goaltender Craig Billington.

In a game against the Dallas Stars the previous night, he illegally left the penalty box ready to fight any opposing players during a break in play.

With his contract set to expire following the 1998–99 season, Jovanovski was beginning to be seen as a disappointment in Florida, failing to improve on his successful rookie year.

[17] Joining the Canucks in the midst of a rebuilding period for the franchise,[18] Jovanovski quickly established himself as a top defenceman in Vancouver's lineup.

[20] A month following his trade, Jovanovski suffered a broken foot while blocking a shot in a game against the New Jersey Devils on February 9, 1999.

[4] At the end of the season, he also earned his first of three consecutive Babe Pratt Trophies, awarded annually to the Canucks' fan-voted best defenceman.

[28] The Canucks finished as the eighth seed in the Western Conference for the second consecutive season, and were eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round of the 2002 playoffs.

Due to the NHL lockout, as well as rib and knee injuries sustained during the 2004 World Cup,[36] Jovanovski was inactive during the 2004–05 season.

When the NHL resumed play in 2005–06, Jovanovski was on pace for a career year, but his season was interrupted by groin, foot and abdominal injuries.

[38] The decision to let him go was influenced by the re-signings of Daniel and Henrik Sedin, as well as the acquisition of goaltender Roberto Luongo, leaving no room on the team's salary cap to retain Jovanovski.

[42] Jovanovski's career season included a one-game suspension on December 1, 2007, for a hit to the head of Minnesota Wild forward Marián Gáborík.

[12] Shortly after returning to the Coyotes lineup, he was suspended for two games by the NHL for a hit to the head of Minnesota Wild forward Andrew Ebbett with his forearm on December 7, 2009.

[47] The following month, he received another two-game suspension for elbowing New York Islanders rookie forward John Tavares in the head.

In the first month of the 2010–11 season, Jovanovski was chosen to serve in place of the suspended Shane Doan as team captain from October 21 to 25, 2010.

His most serious injury was an orbital bone fracture after his face collided with an opposing player's helmet in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers on February 17, 2011.

Panthers coach Kevin Dineen named Jovanovski captain for the 2012–13 but it would prove to be a very frustrating season for him and the team.

A nagging hip injury kept him on the sidelines and limited him to just six games before a season ending surgery shut him down with the team sitting in last place.

He had intended to play out the final year of his contract and retire [62] but the Panthers had different plans and on June 29, 2014, he was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout.

[63] Florida's General Manager at the time, Dave Tallon, made it clear that buying out his captain was a tough call to make.

He suffered a cracked rib and a second degree sprain on his medial collateral ligament (MCL) during the first game against the United States, sidelining him for the rest of the tournament.

Later that year, he was named to his second Canadian Olympic team for the 2006 Games in Turin, but was not able to play due to a lower abdominal injury.

[7] After a pre-trial hearing in June, the Crown attorney dropped the charges in August due to a lack of convincing evidence.

Entitled The Late Bloomer: Ed Jovanovski, it explored his career, family tragedy and attachments to his Macedonian heritage.