Through all of the sadness and disappointment of losing Dougie Hamilton to an injury and a rough 6-3 loss at home to the San Jose Sharks, there was one glimmer of excitement. That was the NHL debut of the New Jersey Devils’ top prospect other than Luke Hughes. That kid is Šimon Nemec. The 19-year-old finally got his long-awaited debut in replace of Hamilton, and so far, through three games, not only has he looked extremely comfortable, but he has quickly earned the trust and confidence in head coach Lindy Ruff and the entire team.
Much of it is based on how he’s already been able to produce points with two assists in his debut and his first career goal on Thursday night vs the Seattle Kraken. That goal was his first career game-winning goal as New Jersey held on for a tough 2-1 win on the road. Ruff continues to praise the young Slovakian. A lot of it is how quickly Nemec has adapted his game and how he contributes to the team’s success, not just with points, but with his style of play.
“He was able to jump in and find the lane. Great shot,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said of Nemec. “He had a couple opportunities where he was in on good offensive plays. His hockey sense, his ability to pick the right time, it’s been good.”
Lindy Ruff (from ‘Simon Nemec scores 1st goal of career, Akira Schmid makes 37 saves as Devils top Kraken 2-1’, nydailynews.com December 8th, 2023)
It’s performances like that that made Nemec such a high prospect and why he went #2 overall in the 2022 draft. He has the toolset to not only command top pairing minutes, but be a major contributor on both sides of the ice. Let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into what makes Nemec such an exciting player and how he is already oozing confidence from himself and his team’s belief in him.
He Brings Offensive Production and Good Positioning
The biggest loss from Hamilton being out is how the Devils will make up for his offensive capabilities both at five-on-five and on the power play. While Luke Hughes is certainly picking up some of the slack, Nemec has contributed and give the team the jolt that they need. Take his first career goal as an example. As mentioned before, it ended up being the game-winner for a team that didn’t get a ton from its big-name forwards. What was important for Nemec was not only him scoring that goal, but where he positioned himself to be in a position to score.
As you can see, Nemec saw the Kraken crashing down low to where Jesper Bratt was and left the slot wide open. Nemec has the presence of mind to fill into where the opening was, and a beautiful feed came from Bratt. That made it incredibly easy for Nemec to one-time past the goaltender and bury it. It may seem like a very simple play, but the fact that Nemec could recognize and know where to be to cash in shows you the instincts and hockey IQ that he possesses already at an early age.
Related: 3 Takeaways From the Devils’ 2-1 Victory Over Kraken
He also, for the most part, has been in good position in the defensive zone. He has made a few minor mistakes, but nothing too glaring. He seems to be listening very well to what Ruff and his staff want him from him every night. He has a good reach, which has allowed him to poke the puck away a few times and disrupt offensive opportunities for his opponents. It also should be noted that his calming, reliable presence has really helped the Devils’ defense as a whole get a bit better. It still needs help, but it’s clearly gotten better. They’re not giving up as many odd-man rushes and having better clear-outs. A part of that should be credited to Nemec for sure.
He’s Earned a Ton of Ice Time
Because of his play, the young defenseman has earned so much confidence from Ruff that Nemec is getting a ton of time on the ice in crucial situations. He ended up with the second most ice time of any New Jersey player in their win on Thursday vs the Kraken. The only player with more was his defense partner Jonas Siegenthaler. In just his second game of his career, a 6-5 win in Vancouver this past Monday, Nemec ended with the third most ice time at 21:45. Lastly, back in his NHL debut a week ago, he once again finished with the third most ice time of anyone on the team.
Through only three games, the Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia native, has immediately earned a ton of ice time. More than even Luke Hughes, which tells you much more about Nemec. Perhaps it is what the organization has seen from him during preseasons and the American Hockey League, that persuaded the coaching staff to put that much responsibility on another rookie defenseman. It also could come from practice as well. Whatever the case may be, it’s clearly working out so far for Nemec and the Devils.
It’s still a very small sample size, and yes, there will be times throughout the rest of the year when he will make mistakes and have to learn fast to correct them. However, there is no question that Nemec has earned the right to be in the NHL. It’s an exciting time for New Jersey fans with Hughes and Nemec on the back end. A duo that perhaps sometime even this year could be paired together. Nemec’s play overall has given himself and the team confidence that will continue to make him better and better each game.