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

[OmNomNom]

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.

if he was that bad, then were the rest of the defensemen available worse? or is nemec's offense just that good? i'll give you that nemec is a bit controversial since his pick rankings aren't solidly within top 5, but it's not THAT crazy

 

[Captain3rdLine]

if he was that bad, then were the rest of the defensemen available worse? or is nemec's offense just that good? i'll give you that nemec is a bit controversial since his pick rankings aren't solidly within top 5, but it's not THAT crazy

Most of his pick rankings were solidly in the top 5. It was highly unlikely he was going outside of the top 5 and most had him in the top 4.

 

[Dialamo]

Wasn't thrilled at first that we passed up on Wright, but I am warming up to Nemec now as I'm sure a lot of you are as well.

 

[MasterofGrond]

dude was playing big minutes on one of the best teams in that league

really doubt his defense is currently in worse shape than dudes playing major junior or for the dev team lol

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I could care less if scouching has some reservations.
He’s one person and there’s a ton of other scouts and people clearly including the devils staff who are very high on Nemec and I really like him myself.

 

[Forge]

Definitely some blow back from passing on wright, I get that. I would have taken him. But I just feel like this is going to be a really solid pick. Maybe I'm overly high on him, but I just feel.... Comfortable with him as a player at the next level

 

[Captain3rdLine]

dude was playing big minutes on one of the best teams in that league

really doubt his defense is currently in worse shape than dudes playing major junior or for the dev team lol

And he was more than fine in the World Championships even against an NHL caliber team such as Canada.

His defense isnt bad at all. Is there aspects of it that he can improve? Absolutely and he has lots of time to get better and he will get better but he’s an extremely talented and well rounded prospect.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

All of Cooley, Wright, Nemec, Jiricek had some deficiencies in their game, yes including Wright. Getting this bent over about Nemec because you don't like him is so stupid.

 

[OmNomNom]

all this to say, i'm not saying he was THE BEST choice at 2, but it makes sense. Wright was not the obvious pick because even if he had the edge in BPA, you CAN'T ignore positional need even if you wanted to. We have top 2Cs lined up. yeah, he could switch to winger, but how green do you want our top 6 to be?

picking for need is constantly demonized, but it shouldn't be. we're looking ahead in order to make long-term decisions, and getting a RD is something we desperately need in our organization

not dissing anyone for trying to find faults in his game at all, but there's a fine line between scouting our own picks and trying to talk our guys down before they've even played w us yet. we're a sad bunch already as it is, why make it worse

 

[RememberTheName]

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 said I would give the positives as well, so I will give my positives.

First off, the thing that Nemec exudes most is confidence. He is insanely confident in every single decision he makes. He carries the puck up with insane amounts of poise that is shocking for a kid who just recently turned 18. He's probably the best puck carrier in the draft. There is no doubt something to be said for that. There is so little panic in his game that it almost looks like he's not even trying half of the time. In reality, though, he is just dictating the pace of play in the offensive zone. In that aspect, he is mature beyond his years. That will make him an impact defenseman almost no matter what.

In terms of his puck carrying, he exudes great body positioning to shield off defenders from the puck and create separation and like I already mentioned, great confidence. He can take the puck up the middle of the ice with ease and is willing to use his nice set of hands and solid edges to evade defenders coming at him. Even though I am praising him, I would just like to mention that his breakout pass needs work. In the offensive zone, his passing is fine, but in transition, for some reason, it just loses its accuracy. As of right now, it primarily seems he will be successful in transition as the primary puck carrier up the ice and into the offensive zone. In this way, he can read the defense and play at the pace he wants to set rather than risking a turnover off of a bad pass.

When he gets into the offensive zone, Nemec is just one of those guys that has a natural feel for the offensive zone. He just knows where open space his and how to get there, both with and without the puck. With the puck, he loves utilizing strong headfakes toward the middle of the ice to then cut outside and free up space for a pass into the slot. He loves using headfakes to freeze defenses and goaltenders to then make a pass for a better scoring opportunity. Without the puck, Simon Nemec exudes a great ability to find soft spots in the defense, these small areas of open ice where he can receive a pass to fire a wicked one timer on net. He kind of glides around creeping up and around the defense until he finally strikes and the goalie didn't even see the puck go past him and into the net. He uses his body extremely well in the offensive zone, especially in terms of deception. His passing in the offensive zone is very solid, much better than in transition, where he completes crisp, accurate passes that fly all over the offensive zone.

These are primarily my positives for Nemec. I would like to point out that he is most definitely not the fastest guy in the draft, something I don't think I have touched upon yet. If he wants to continue to be a dominant puck carrier, he needs to get quicker or else he will get caught by the backchecker more often than he would like.

 

[Forge]

I said I would give the positives as well, so I will give my positives.

First off, the thing that Nemec exudes most is confidence. He is insanely confident in every single decision he makes. He carries the puck up with insane amounts of poise that is shocking for a kid who just recently turned 18. He's probably the best puck carrier in the draft. There is no doubt something to be said for that. There is so little panic in his game that it almost looks like he's not even trying half of the time. In reality, though, he is just dictating the pace of play in the offensive zone. In that aspect, he is mature beyond his years. That will make him an impact defenseman almost no matter what.

In terms of his puck carrying, he exudes great body positioning to shield off defenders from the puck and create separation and like I already mentioned, great confidence. He can take the puck up the middle of the ice with ease and is willing to use his nice set of hands and solid edges to evade defenders coming at him. Even though I am praising him, I would just like to mention that his breakout pass needs work. In the offensive zone, his passing is fine, but in transition, for some reason, it just loses its accuracy. As of right now, it primarily seems he will be successful in transition as the primary puck carrier up the ice and into the offensive zone. In this way, he can read the defense and play at the pace he wants to set rather than risking a turnover off of a bad pass.

When he gets into the offensive zone, Nemec is just one of those guys that has a natural feel for the offensive zone. He just knows where open space his and how to get there, both with and without the puck. With the puck, he loves utilizing strong headfakes toward the middle of the ice to then cut outside and free up space for a pass into the slot. He loves using headfakes to freeze defenses and goaltenders to then make a pass for a better scoring opportunity. Without the puck, Simon Nemec exudes a great ability to find soft spots in the defense, these small areas of open ice where he can receive a pass to fire a wicked one timer on net. He kind of glides around creeping up and around the defense until he finally strikes and the goalie didn't even see the puck go past him and into the net. He uses his body extremely well in the offensive zone, especially in terms of deception. His passing in the offensive zone is very solid, much better than in transition, where he completes crisp, accurate passes that fly all over the offensive zone.

These are primarily my positives for Nemec. I would like to point out that he is most definitely not the fastest guy in the draft, something I don't think I have touched upon yet. If he wants to continue to be a dominant puck carrier, he needs to get quicker or else he will get caught by the backchecker more often than he would like.

Where did you have him ranked (if you did rankings)? Just curious

 

[OmNomNom]

I said I would give the positives as well, so I will give my positives.

First off, the thing that Nemec exudes most is confidence. He is insanely confident in every single decision he makes. He carries the puck up with insane amounts of poise that is shocking for a kid who just recently turned 18. He's probably the best puck carrier in the draft. There is no doubt something to be said for that. There is so little panic in his game that it almost looks like he's not even trying half of the time. In reality, though, he is just dictating the pace of play in the offensive zone. In that aspect, he is mature beyond his years. That will make him an impact defenseman almost no matter what.

In terms of his puck carrying, he exudes great body positioning to shield off defenders from the puck and create separation and like I already mentioned, great confidence. He can take the puck up the middle of the ice with ease and is willing to use his nice set of hands and solid edges to evade defenders coming at him. Even though I am praising him, I would just like to mention that his breakout pass needs work. In the offensive zone, his passing is fine, but in transition, for some reason, it just loses its accuracy. As of right now, it primarily seems he will be successful in transition as the primary puck carrier up the ice and into the offensive zone. In this way, he can read the defense and play at the pace he wants to set rather than risking a turnover off of a bad pass.

When he gets into the offensive zone, Nemec is just one of those guys that has a natural feel for the offensive zone. He just knows where open space his and how to get there, both with and without the puck. With the puck, he loves utilizing strong headfakes toward the middle of the ice to then cut outside and free up space for a pass into the slot. He loves using headfakes to freeze defenses and goaltenders to then make a pass for a better scoring opportunity. Without the puck, Simon Nemec exudes a great ability to find soft spots in the defense, these small areas of open ice where he can receive a pass to fire a wicked one timer on net. He kind of glides around creeping up and around the defense until he finally strikes and the goalie didn't even see the puck go past him and into the net. He uses his body extremely well in the offensive zone, especially in terms of deception. His passing in the offensive zone is very solid, much better than in transition, where he completes crisp, accurate passes that fly all over the offensive zone.

These are primarily my positives for Nemec. I would like to point out that he is most definitely not the fastest guy in the draft, something I don't think I have touched upon yet. If he wants to continue to be a dominant puck carrier, he needs to get quicker or else he will get caught by the backchecker more often than he would like.

thanks for this

ironically, going back to concerns of his "passive defense", if he can improve his acceleration, i can guess that he wouldn't lose attackers as much, thus improving his defense

 

[Lou Bloom]

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:

Scouch was also heavily critical of Power's defensive game last season and he looked great in his NHL debut. He also was way behind the curve on guys like Sanderson and Seider.

You're talking about 2 minutes worth of clips on a 17 year old defenseman playing in a pro league. I can find you 2 minutes worth of clips showcasing his defensive strengths as well. Cam Robinson for example has plenty of short clips on Nemec showcasing both his strengths and in some cases weaknesses on the defensive end.

 

[devilsfan35]

He had 17pts in 19 playoff games. That’s insane

 

[RememberTheName]

Scouch was also heavily critical of Power's defensive game last season and he looked great in his NHL debut. He also was way behind the curve on guys like Sanderson and Seider.

You're talking about 2 minutes worth of clips on a 17 year old defenseman playing in a pro league. I can find you 2 minutes worth of clips showcasing his defensive strengths as well. Cam Robinson for example has plenty of short clips on Nemec showcasing both his strengths and in some cases weaknesses on the defensive end.

Maybe I forgot to write this in the post, but I had separate viewings earlier in the year where I thought those things of Nemec. I just came across the video today and it made a similar point to what I thought I had seen when I watched Nemec play earlier in the year. My opinion on Nemec's defense comes solely from my viewings of Nemec, not Scouch's. I just thought it provided a good visual aid to some points that I thought were true that I did not have video ready to show.

EDIT: And I always like to clarify. I don't really have the opportunity to view these guys a bunch of times. So I always say that when I am down more on a player than the consensus, maybe I just had a couple of bad showings from him, and I can't control that, and he's actually the player everyone makes him out to be. But, I like to go based on what my eyes are telling me, not based on what other scouts are telling me about a player.

Where did you have him ranked (if you did rankings)? Just curious

I had Nemec ranked 9th and the 2nd ranked defenseman in the draft this year.

 

[RememberTheName]

thanks for this

ironically, going back to concerns of his "passive defense", if he can improve his acceleration, i can guess that he wouldn't lose attackers as much, thus improving his defense

I definitely agree with this. A lot of his issues come down to having a bit of a slow time getting off the blocks and a just average top end speed, thus seeming to lose a lot of players in the defensive zone and while defending in transition. If his skating can improve a bit, then I think a lot of the qualms I have with Nemec's game will be resolved on both sides of the puck. It's just a matter of if he can improve it and by how much.

 

[Oneiro]

I agree, there's a passiveness to his defending that will get torched at the NHL level - I expect his cup of coffee might be a wakeup call if Utica isn't. I'm not impressed with his physical game at all. But I think passiveness is the flipside of the atypical poise of a guy like Nemec. We saw something similar in the early days of No. 27 over here, though obviously the skating isn't even in the same building (unlike Luke).

His natural feel for the pace of the game and the space available to make this or that play - that's my favorite part of his game and why I think he draws those Heiskanen comparisons.

With all this potential, I think this team's next coach is one of the most important decisions Fitz will ever make. I think of Severson as an example of a good player who kind of missed out on greatness because of circumstance but certainly had the tools to be developed more.

 

[Devs3cups]

And he was more than fine in the World Championships even against an NHL caliber team such as Canada.

His defense isnt bad at all. Is there aspects of it that he can improve? Absolutely and he has lots of time to get better and he will get better but he’s an extremely talented and well rounded prospect.

Ding ding ding

 

[OmNomNom]

what if we just get a shutdown 2nd pairing guy to go with nemec?

future could be

hughes - hamilton
siegenthaler - nemec
okh/bahl mukh

 

[Devs3cups]

From the clips I’ve seen, Nemec’s acceleration looked fine to me. I agree with the “passiveness” aspect of his defense, although his positioning looked ok. I’m sure he’ll improve these aspects though.

what if we just get a shutdown 2nd pairing guy to go with nemec?

future could be

hughes - hamilton
siegenthaler - nemec
okh/bahl mukh

Luke might need a shutdown guy way more than Nemec. Time will tell though.

 

[Devs3cups]

Damn, Nemec really torched the Slovakian playoffs this year. Jesus.

For reference, he got 5 goals and 12 assists in 19 games. He was the best D-man in points, by quite a wide margin. The 2nd best D-man in points had 9 in 18 games. That’s pretty damn impressive.

 

[RememberTheName]

From the clips I’ve seen, Nemec’s acceleration looked fine to me. I agree with the “passiveness” aspect of his defense, although his positioning looked ok. I’m sure he’ll improve these aspects though.


Luke might need a shutdown guy way more than Nemec. Time will tell though.

Although I agree that Nemec's skating and acceleration looks fine for now, given his role as a puck carrier through the neutral zone, playing against stronger, much faster NHL defenses will give Nemec a little bit of trouble if he is just fine. Ty Smith also looked like a solid skater coming out the WHL and now his skating is an issue at this level. I am not saying Nemec's skating is that bad, but I will say that just because it's not a problem now doesn't mean it won't be an issue in the future playing against faster competition especially considering his style of play. He is very smooth, fluid, and has good edges, but I really would like to see an increase in top end speed when carrying the puck. I'd really like to see him spend two offseasons focusing primarily on explosiveness and top end speed. That would really make him an offensive threat.

 

[Xirik]

It may be just the bad lighting during a draft floor interview but Nemec looks like he could Gilbert Gottfried's son.

 

[Devs3cups]

Although I agree that Nemec's skating and acceleration looks fine for now, given his role as a puck carrier through the neutral zone, playing against stronger, much faster NHL defenses will give Nemec a little bit of trouble if he is just fine. Ty Smith also looked like a solid skater coming out the WHL and now his skating is an issue at this level. I am not saying Nemec's skating is that bad, but I will say that just because it's not a problem now doesn't mean it won't be an issue in the future playing against faster competition especially considering his style of play. He is very smooth, fluid, and has good edges, but I really would like to see an increase in top end speed when carrying the puck. I'd really like to see him spend two offseasons focusing primarily on explosiveness and top end speed. That would really make him an offensive threat.

I mostly agree with this and I believe he’ll get better. With Smith, watching him at the WJC, I remember feeling he was a technically sound skater, but he was slow. I didn’t get that same feeling with Nemec watching him at the WJC.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Although I agree that Nemec's skating and acceleration looks fine for now, given his role as a puck carrier through the neutral zone, playing against stronger, much faster NHL defenses will give Nemec a little bit of trouble if he is just fine. Ty Smith also looked like a solid skater coming out the WHL and now his skating is an issue at this level. I am not saying Nemec's skating is that bad, but I will say that just because it's not a problem now doesn't mean it won't be an issue in the future playing against faster competition especially considering his style of play. He is very smooth, fluid, and has good edges, but I really would like to see an increase in top end speed when carrying the puck. I'd really like to see him spend two offseasons focusing primarily on explosiveness and top end speed. That would really make him an offensive threat.

Come on man he’s clearly much faster than Ty Smith was. His skating is way more than fine. It’s not elite but it’s very good. You’re just making up nonesense at this point.

His skating has consistently been considered one of his strengths.

I mostly agree with this and I believe he’ll get better. With Smith, watching him at the WJC, I remember feeling he was a technically sound skater, but he was slow. I didn’t get that same feeling with Nemec watching him at the WJC.

Nemec is much faster. Yes they’re both smooth and fluid skaters but Nemec has a longer stride and is clearly faster.