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

[OmNomNom]

Who cares? Fitz has zero track record for going against the grain and coming away with the better player. Zero. He could feel that Maveric Lameuroux was the best player in the draft for all I care. Means nothing.

At this point I'd rather have Byron Bader running the drafts. Funny enough, he probably would have made the same pick at #2.



Nah, I'm just too tired of this. I have no faith that he's not going to go off the board at #37 because at this point it's his MO. He'll probably pick a goalie or something.

Can you imagine if Shero was here? We probably walk away with Wright and Chesley. Maybe he moves back into the first round somehow and we come away with Wright and Yurov.

Fitz is not the right man for the job. He's done irreparable damage to the rebuild. I don't think I can get too invested in the team any more until he's gone. Hopefully it will be soon after Wright shows him to be an absolute clown.

if shero was here, we'd package #37 with a 3rd for palmieri

 

[Devil X]

Arizona also passed on Wright and went with Cooley. Both play center, so they just liked Cooley more, just as the Devils like Nemec more.

Lots of people over here is screaming about Wright being available and he should have been the pick, but 3 teams passed on Wright clearly there was a reason for that. Nemec was ranked in the top 4 in most of these mocks I feel like, along with the other 3 players that went. It was just in a different order. I have little doubt that Slaf was number 1 on the Devils list and Nemec was 2.

How about we not crap all over a kid before he's even stepped on the ice and be excited for the potential he provides for the backend. How he and Luke could be corner stones for the defense like Jack and Nico will be for the forwards.

This board loves looking back, so there will be pages and pages in the future for everyone to bash the pick if he doesnt work out the exact way you expect.

 

[Blackjack]

if shero was here, we'd package #37 with a 3rd for palmieri

And that will almost certainly be better than what Fitz is going to do with the pick.

 

[Buggsy]

False:

3. Logan Cooley: The U.S. U-18 national team centre was the only prospect besides Slafkovsky and Wright to get a No. 1 vote from our panel of scouts, but also got a few votes at No. 2. At 5-foot-10 1/2, the skilled pivot has some dynamic offensive ability, especially in terms of his one-on-one play and a willingness to go to hard areas on the ice to score goals. Most scouts project him as a high-end second-line centre in the NHL with a chance to develop into a 1C. Size and not consistently using his linemates to maximum effectiveness are two things that could prevent that from happening.

Dammit you're right.

I questioned myself after having posted but didn't have the time to check. Thank you

 

[swiiscompos]

A lot of people strongly underestimate the importance of development curves. A player who was progressing a lot but is now stalling is concerning, especially when it’s their draft year and you expect them to give it all.

And Slaf wouldn’t be a safe pick either. He has been lights out in a few games but hasn’t shown the long term consistency with his club. Nemec on the other hand is an elite player in the Slovak league (obviously a weaker league) and has shown constant improvement without any sign of it slowing down. This year he was almost a ppg player in the playoffs and scored at a 0.67 rate during the regular season. He had similar numbers during the world championship.

 

[Devilsfan118]

because of the unique position we were in, i have no problem picking for need. but i couldn’t care less about how long it’ll take these kids to make an impact. that shouldn’t be a factor in drafting at all

I mean I have to completely disagree here - we have a young core here with a pretty explicit timeline that we need to try and cater to.

We want to start winning now. We want to start teaching these kids that are on the NHL roster how to go about winning games. If Nemec is 2-3 years out still from being an impact player, you're talking about having to go about helping this team immediately through expensive free agency contracts or leveraging future draft capital (likely less valuable than a 2OA pick) to do so. I don't see how the latter is preferable.

Using the 2OA to address an immediate hole (outside of goaltending) would've been the far preferable move, imo.

 

[Triumph]

Again with the "picking for need" - we don't need a right handed defensemen today. We have a 1st pairing RHD and 2nd pairing RHD. 3rd pairing can either be a UFA or some journeyman, also who cares it's the 3rd pairing.

Either way, this pick doesn't help NJ in 2023. Nemec might get a cup of coffee as I expect him to start in Utica, but this player won't really have any effect on this coming season.

If Fitz was desperate and wanted to save his job, then surely he would have picked the guy he could plug into the 2023 lineup and get immediate dividends from, right? Or the rough-and-tumble boom/bust kind of prospect Fitz apparently has a boner for in Jiricek. Or overdrafting Cutter because he's big and feisty and hits people. THAT would be a shortsighted luxury pick. Not punting on the media darling to pick a boring steady defenseman who won't play this year.

There's no immediate gratification that comes with the Nemec pick. So why are we talking about need? We don't NEED him on the Devils roster right now, we have right handed guys for this season. A need pick would have been for a guy that can fill a slot now.

If Fitz wanted to save his job, he would've dealt this pick for DeBrincat.

 

[Tanaka]

I like this pick. Before Nemec was drafted the only RHD we had in the system were Walsh, McCarthy and Hurtig. This pick also was not much of a reach with many seeing Nemec going from 3-5. He was lights out for Nitra in the playoffs when it mattered most putting up 5g12a in 19 games. for too many years the devils can not successfully get the puck out of their D zone. When Nemec and L. Hughes mature they will have great puck movers and their transition game will be very much improved.

 

[OmNomNom]

i feel bad for nemec, he now has all this pressure to be immensely better than wright, and it's not his fault

 

[swiiscompos]

And that will almost certainly be better than what Fitz is going to do with the pick.

Holy hyperbole, I’m in London and can see it in the horizon.

 

[OmNomNom]

If Fitz wanted to save his job, he would've dealt this pick for DeBrincat.

cat hasn't even re-signed, perhaps price was lower for a reason?

or maybe cat didn't wanna re-sign here if traded here

 

[longislanddevil]

Lots of assumptions here. You have no idea if they would've picked someone else had they picked Morrow or whoever else in other drafts. Simply put, they could've thought Nemec was the next best prospect and given that Seattle was interested as well they wouldn't have been able to trade down.

I've repeated this to several posters, if it was simply a pick for need why didn't they pick Jiricek?

I'm sorry but I don't believe for one second this was some pick just based on need. Whether they evaluated the prospects wrong is a completely different story that would have to be looked at in couple years.

Great post. While both are RD, Jiricek is a vastly different kind of prospect who would have brought more sandpaper, making the Devils tougher to play against (area in which Fitz has stated he wishes to improve). Stylistically, Nemec does not fit the way Jiricek would have. When at least one other team had another player (other than Slaf) ranked higher than Wright, I’m having a hard time wrapping myself around this notion that it is preposterous Fitz did, as well.

 

[minibrodeur]

Calm down guys this is all part of a bigger plan. We're going to draft Jack Hughes and then blackmail Kent for Slaf by threatening to make him an AHL lifer.

 

[Triumph]

The thing is that the 2nd overall pick is usually a lock pick. Malkin, Hedman, Seguin, Eichel, Laine, it is just not hard at all to think of 2nd overall picks where there was not any choice involved. This wasn't that kind of year.

 

[Blackjack]

i feel bad for nemec, he now has all this pressure to be immensely better than wright, and it's not his fault

Nope, it’s Fritz’s fault.

The thing is that the 2nd overall pick is usually a lock pick. Malkin, Hedman, Seguin, Eichel, Laine, it is just not hard at all to think of 2nd overall picks where there was not any choice involved. This wasn't that kind of year.

Yes, it was. Fitz just f***ed it up.

 

[Devilsfan118]

i feel bad for nemec, he now has all this pressure to be immensely better than wright, and it's not his fault

Such is life for high draft picks.

Just look at Nico and Makar.

 

[Rhodes 81]

Yeah that's the other part of the problem...at first it was gonna be well we'll get Slaf and he's a good prospect who actually does fit a long-term need without going off board. Or it was maybe we'll trade the pick for a more immediate difference maker like DeBrincat or Thachuk (one of whom wasn't traded, one that was but without any extension). Then once both those options went off the board it became well we might as well take Wright then. Passing on him too and saying all these guys are in a mish-mash of ranks, it's like well what was even the point of keeping #2 then? This just seems like the worst of all possible options that played out.

The point was we got a prospect who has a good shot of becoming a top pairing, right-shot D. He doesn't help this year, but if he ends up as that kind of player and Wright ends up as just a good 1st liner, then we did well. We just won't know that for a few years at least.

All I mean when I say "luxury pick" is that this puts more pressure on us to find an impact forward in free agency now. We still have an opportunity to significantly improve the team for this year, the options on how to do that are just significantly more limited. With Hughes and Nemec in the system, it does allow us to be more liberal with moving some of our other d prospects as part of a futures package or in a hockey trade for a young forward. It hurts less if we move Shakir and he works out when we still have 2 blue-chip guys coming up.

Nemec is a good prospect and if we had been picking 3rd with Wright and Slaf both gone, nobody would have a problem here. All this disappointment, and therefore anger, comes from not turning 2OA into an immediate boost to the team like we all convinced ourselves would happen.

 

[Triumph]

Yes, it was. Fitz just f***ed it up.

No, it wasn't, as you can see by McKenzie's survey. I guarantee you it looks nothing like that in 2010, 2015, or 2016.

 

[RSeen]

Nope, it’s Fritz’s fault.



Yes, it was. Fitz just f***ed it up.

Based on what? Have you even watched a single game of any of the prospects? Nobody should be valuing the opinions of people who spend no time actually studying the draft class in depth.

 

[OmNomNom]

Nope, it’s Fritz’s fault.



Yes, it was. Fitz just f***ed it up.

nah it's our faults, for elevating wright to a god

 

[RememberTheName]

No issue picking for need in a draft like this one where everything is relatively close at the top. They picked the wrong guy though.

 

[Devs3cups]

You do have to wonder how much of Wright's reputations as a standout 15-year old player carried to his #1 ranking leading up to this draft.

2 teams who are EXTREMELY thin at the Centre position passed on him. Teams didn’t like something about him.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

If Nemec can be a solid top 4 RHD for NJ for 10+ years it will be a good pick. If he can be more than that it's a great pick. Both seem well within the realm of possible outcomes. I'm pretty excited about this kid being in the organization.

 

[Blackjack]

Based on what? Have you even watched a single game of any of the prospects? Nobody should be valuing the opinions of people who spend no time actually studying the draft class in depth.

I’ve never posted a ranking or rated a prospect. You don’t need to be a prospect watcher to want your GM to pick the best player available, and when there’s a CONSENSUS among NHL scouts that one player is better than another, to want your GM to take that player.

 

[lightsout]

It seems that the more time that has gone by the more questions there were about Wright and his abilities. Has there been an instance of a player that was considered the top in their draft year for so long, not get selected first, but end up still being the best player (or close to it)? I can't think of an example. Patrick is the only recent example I can think of where he was considered the top pick for so long until the last several months, but he isn't close to the top player in his draft.

I hope Nemec becomes the cornerstone of the defense for years. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. His ability to reach that level is likely as high as anyone in the draft. A few players from this draft will reach that level, but as of today we don't know which ones. I'll be rooting for Nemec to be one of them. I hope all fans out there will do the same instead of wanting him to fail to prove a point.

I don't really understand the trade back argument either. Do you take the guy your scouts say is the one, or do you trade back a few spots for a random 2nd or 3rd round pick and hope one of your guys is still available? What if the team calling has a pick in the teens? Do you move back that far? Maybe they add next year's first to entice you, but what if that pick turns out to be 30th overall next year? Was it worth it?

There's still a possibility of making trades with roster players and picks to improve the roster. Maybe our 2nd this year and/or next year's 1st.

For now we have a highly regarded RD that is cost controlled for several years and still have the ability to sign or trade for improvement.