Prospect Info: New Jersey Devils Draft Simon Nemec, 2nd Overall

[Emperoreddy]

I can't see how staying in Slovakia does any good.

Yeah it seems pointless for him to stay there. Come to camp, see how he looks, with the expectation he spends the bulk of the year in Utica.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

2022 Draft Profile:

RD Simon Nemec, HK Nitra Slovakia (STI Ranking #4, McKenzie #4)
Let's cut to the chase and say off the bat this is a player the New Jersey Devils absolutely must be tracking closely. With defensemen early in the draft, there is always some risk -- as defensemen take longer than forwards to develop and there is usually more projection necessary as a result among a team's scouting staff. Nemec kind of transcends this -- I feel there's virtually no risk he won't be at least a good NHL defenseman, and there's a great deal of reasons to be optimistic Nemec will be an all-situations, two-way stud NHL RD for many years down the line.

Nemec's tool kit is best described as ideal. He's got ideal size at 6'1-190, and he is an excellent skater who is fast and agile without being quite elite in terms of speed or edges. He gets where he wants to go quickly and is rarely outskated, especially when combined with his anticipation and awareness, both of which are excellent. Nemec's intangibles shine across the board -- he's extremely smart and competitive and knows what to do on the ice in any situation -- he's always aware of not just what is going on the ice, but also the context of the game, which is impressive for a player his age. Down a goal late? Nemec is slinging stretch passes and pinching in everywhere in the offensive zone. Up one goal late? Nemec is hanging back and playing conservatively trying his best to protect that lead. There's little doubt he's a smart kid.

Nemec's most elite tool in my opinion is his passing and vision. This kid will be an absolute beast in transition. The moment he collects the puck anywhere in the defensive zone, he already knows what to do with it. He's one of the better transitional passers I've seen in the past decade, often flinging highlight reel passes up ice to forwards which stun the opposition and often have them playing on their heels for the rest of the game whenever he's on the ice. Nemec is also very good at playmaking in the offensive zone and on the PP.

This brings us to the most viable aspect of Nemec's future success. He's potentially the player who you put out to protect a late lead or come back from a late deficit, a player who will be on the first unit for both your PP and PK. He's just so steady defensively. He's not what I'd call a player who relies on physicality, but he's willing to play physically and is very strong, especially considering he's one of the youngest defensemen in the Slovakian men's league. He's very adept at using shoulder checks and box outs to separate opposing puck carriers from the puck, and then he's very quick to transition those pucks. Positionally, I'd say he's not quite perfect but he's very good and, as I've mentioned, Nemec displays very good on-ice awareness. Quite simply, he's a very good defender -- I'd go so far to say this aspect of his game is further along than his offense right now, and has the potential to one day be pretty elite.

When combined with his scoring upside -- and Nemec has significant scoring upside -- it's no wonder Nemec is considered the consensus top defender for the 2022 draft. However, it's important not to confuse Nemec with Cale Makar or John Carlson -- I wouldn't say he'll be a 60-70 point guy in his NHL career. Nemec's shot is okay, but not a cannon blast like David Jiricek. Sometimes Nemec has trouble getting the puck to the net from the point, and that's something he'll have to work on. He seems to have a great deal of shot attempts blocked away. Although he's very adept at rushing in from the point if given a window, his hands are also "good but not elite", and the fact that defenders fear his passing more than his shot allow them to ease back on defending him a bit which limits this ability.

Ultimately, I'd say Nemec's potential is as a shut-down, all-situations NHL defender with 50+ point ability. This is an extremely tempting player which every single NHL team would rightly covet. As far as his ceiling goes, it's hard to say. This is not a player with many aspects we would define as "flaws", but if he can improve his skating to a near-elite level and get smoother with his shooting and puckhandling... well, he could one day make my projection look extremely conservative. What I really love about him is that his floor is unnaturally high for a draft-eligible defender. There's virtually no risk here. I would be willing to bet the farm Simon Nemec will, at the very least, be an extremely effective two-way, all-situations defender at the NHL level. It's rare to make such a statement with such confidence, but Nemec is just that impressive thus far into his amateur career.

Just in case.

 

[Emperoreddy]

That all sounds awesome, though not sure he will get lots of PP time though we have other options for the PP so that's ok

 

[LeedsMonster]

You watch a lot of Slovakian professional hockey?

Do you?

 

[Captain3rdLine]

That all sounds awesome, though not sure he will get lots of PP time though we have other options for the PP so that's ok

I think he eventually will. I would imagine him and Hughes will be the main guys there 3-4 years from now.

 

[Classic Devil]

I am very happy with this pick.

 

[vladis271]

If Im understanding this correctly.. Nemec produced the most points ever by an 18yo Slovakian in their league this season?

Not any player but defenseman. And his playoff statistic is even better. Clearly, Slafkovsky was the sexiest pick in this draft (I mean literally), so I understand why Montreal picked him but I, as a slovakian and many would agree with me, have a strange feeling about Nemec. And I think this is this most talented Slovakian D since Chara, maybe Visnovsky. I do even think that He is going to be the best player of this draft class in 10-15 years. The last same-hyped Slovakian player, among journalists, was Cernak, but nemec will be better.

 

[Emperoreddy]

I am very happy with this pick.

We got the centers. We got the D now. Fill out the wings and get a goalie. Then just let them grow

 

[MadDevil]

Well, we have been complaining that Shero never addressed defense, and we've now drafted a defenseman with a top 5 pick two years in a row, and another with a top 20 pick the year before. If they all hit, we may finally have a good defense for a long time (or at least the core of one).

 

[Bad Goalie]

Okhotyuk-Nemec in Utica next year?

I could dig it!

 

[Hisch13r]

Just watched the Scouching video and uhhh definitely didn’t make me feel better. Made me feel quite a bit worse. Stand by the thought that he’s basically Luke but a worse version and without Luke’s tools

 

[RememberTheName]

For those who were asking about my opinion on Nemec's defense. I was going back to find clips and came across Will Scouch's video for Simon Nemec, which I decided to give a watch. I don't want to throw a guy's video off at you guys and pass it off as my own opinion, but when I say he hits the nail on the head with my exact thoughts on Nemec's defense, he hits the nail on the head. I don't often agree with Will Scouch, but his explanation for Nemec's defensive faults is spot on.

I will sum it up in my own words and also link the video because he utilizes useful clips to help display some of the troubles. This is much easier than going through the trouble of me linking clips. I'd recommend watching the clip. I will link it down below. It starts at 11:37 and runs for a little over 2 minutes talking about Nemec's defense.

In short, Nemec plays highly passive defense in the defensive zone without true willingness to engage physically. He tunnel visions a lot of the time on the puck, drawing himself out of position frequently, and just doesn't really move his feet quick enough to keep up with forwards retrieving the puck and moving in and out of the center of the ice. He leaves massive gaps between himself and puck carriers allowing easy passing and shooting lanes to develop. I will also add on top of this, as he doesn't talk about this in the video, is that when being taken 1 on 1 in transition, he often shifts too far into the center of the ice and tries to use his stick and his stick alone to stop the attacker. It's somewhat funky looking to watch. He also doesn't have a huge amount of backwards quickness and gets beaten quite easily when being taken one on one. Because of a combination of a lack of quickness and bad positioning, Nemec is far too often either beaten outside by an attacker or beaten to a simple puck retrieval off of a dump in. His transition defense, to put it lightly, is really bad. When he's in the defensive zone, he's passale.

Here is the video linked below:

 

[RememberTheName]

Just watched the Scouching video and uhhh definitely didn’t make me feel better. Made me feel quite a bit worse. Stand by the thought that he’s basically Luke but without Luke’s tools

Damn, you beat me to it by one minute! I had also never seen the video before and I don't really follow Scouch too much because I don't love his methodology, but I will say he did a really good job with this video. Definitely keeps getting better as an internet scout. That being said, I feel about the same as Nemec as I did before because he pretty much shares the exact same thoughts as me about Nemec, which is interesting because I disagreed with him quite a bit last year.

 

[Devs3cups]

Crap, Nemec doesn't have perfect defense as an 18 year old prospect. Sucks he can't improve and work on his weaknesses.

 

[OmNomNom]

can we get highlights on the positives, our fanbase is focusing on the negatives bc mtl ruined our ideal pick

i doubt we'd be nitpicking Wright this hard, would we?

 

[Hisch13r]

Crap, Nemec doesn't have perfect defense as an 18 year old prospect. Sucks he can't improve and work on his weaknesses.

It’s not that it’s imperfect. It’s that it’s straight up bad. At least with Luke he has the elite skating a bigger frame that makes it easier to see how the issues can work themselves out

 

[stonecold316]

Shoulda put money on that shit.

I do not bet on sure things.

 

[MasterofGrond]

and yet our boy STI is highly complimentary of his defense

 

[Hisch13r]

and yet our boy STI is highly complimentary of his defense

And IIRC @Guadana is not.

 

[Bcap88]

Passing on wright likely means the organization views mercer as a center as opposed to a wing? Just spit ballin

 

[OmNomNom]

we have conflicting reports online for nemec - if you WANTED to find negative reports on him, you can trust scouching. but normally, we don't see scouching videos on here, so why are we trusting it now? because we WANT to be right on shitting on the pick? why do we always do this to ourselves

 

[Devs3cups]

It’s not that it’s imperfect. It’s that it’s straight up bad. At least with Luke he has the elite skating a bigger frame that makes it easier to see how the issues can work themselves out

I don't think it is, and I've watched quite a bit of him. It's fine if we disagree but even if it was, those things can be improved on. Far from being set in stone.

 

[Hisch13r]

we have conflicting reports online for nemec - if you WANTED to find negative reports on him, you can trust scouching. but normally, we don't see scouching videos on here, so why are we trusting it now? because we WANT to be right on shitting on the pick? why do we always do this to ourselves

It’s not like I wanted to find a negative report. I watched the video because I like Will and how he thinks about the game. I wanted to know his thoughts.

 

[OmNomNom]

Simon Nemec: 2022 NHL Draft Prospect Profile; A Two-Way Defenseman with Top-Pair potential

Today we examine one of the top prospects in the 2022 NHL draft, right shot defenseman Simon Nemec. Nemec is a great all-around player, but is he worthy of the Devils 2nd overall pick?

www.allaboutthejersey.com

Smaht Scouting’s profile praises Nemec’s gap control, defensive awareness and ability to read the play, as well as his ability to retrieve pucks during board battles. In agreement are both Wheeler and Pronman of the Athletic (see links above), and Siltanen of Dobber Prospects in all praising Nemec’s mature defensive game.

Will Scouch’s opinion Diverges here, and he refers to Nemec as a passive defender.

DP Scouting Team's April Rankings for the 2022 NHL Draft

Powered by InStat Hockey Leagues all over the world are into their stretch drives, with some already onto the postseason, and there have been notable changes on our board since we published our last rankings in December. Our team of scouts has been hard at work watching

dobberprospects.com

Defensively, he maintains very strong gap control and great positioning, which helps him to break up defensive zone cycles and intercept passes.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

can we get highlights on the positives, our fanbase is focusing on the negatives bc mtl ruined our ideal pick

i doubt we'd be nitpicking Wright this hard, would we?

I watched a playoff shift by shift and Wright was falling all over the ice from small taps. Clearly too weak to play in the nhl. It's funny how you guys emphasize the negatives on guys you don't like.