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

[Emperoreddy]

What's weird is way back at the lottery a good chunk of this board wanted them to draft one of the RD and that only really shifted as everyone fell for Slav.

People definitely were not in love with the idea of taking Wright, and more then a few felt the only reason to do it was pre-draft pedigree and not anything to do with him (well he has to be BPA because he was ranked there for so long)

 

[NJDevs26]

Point is those organizations started at the same point as we are right now. Yzerman wasn't perfect with the Lightning, notably with his Connolly and Kuokkuok picks. Fitz hasn't done picks as bad as those still. That's what he means, it'll come.

Comparing us now to them like five and seven years ago is a pretty generous curve to grade on, sure everything looks good if you take the best possible outcome and attribute it to us - it's like comparing Pavel Zacha in his first three years to Sean Couturier's first three years, we saw a lot of that wish-casting here too.

 

[BananaGenetics]

What's weird is way back at the lottery a good chunk of this board wanted them to draft one of the RD and that only really shifted as everyone fell for Slav.

People definitely were not in love with the idea of taking Wright, and more then a few felt the only reason to do it was pre-draft pedigree and not anything to do with him (well he has to be BPA because he was ranked there for so long)

I was shocked to see how heavily Devils fans everywhere were favoring Slafkovsky.

Not that he wouldnt have been a perfect fit for our offense, but I think Nemec is a perfect fit for our defense and that was more of a need. Plus add in that they probably had Nemec at 2/3 in the draft and it makes sense to pass on the two centers

Jiricek would have been a nice grab as well but I like Nemec's upside more. He screams surefire top-3 guy to me

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

You're really comparing two teams who actually have won three Cups and a bunch of playoff series with loaded rosters to a management that hasn't done jack yet? Yes I give THOSE teams a lot more benefit of the doubt and leeway to swing and miss than I do our organization (or Arizona) that hasn't done jack in almost a decade, what's the issue with that? Of course they've had their swings and misses too, everyone does but they've shown they know how to build teams - there's still a ton of work to do here.

Ok, so what you're saying is, you would've questioned them too 5+ years ago? I'll give you that then, cuz that would make sense. They had 0 credibility back then too.

 

[lightsout]

If we're honest with ourselves, with Slaf off the board, this thread would be going the same way even if we did trade back.

"We traded back to get Savoie and a pick that has a 2.7% chance of ever playing in the NHL????" With Wright dropping right into our lap???"

 

[OmNomNom]

Of course there wasn't a trade down where they still get Nemec...that isn't the point. If you have Nemec on his own tier and clearly ahead of the next few guys you aren't even entertaining a trade down to begin with. Yes he was ostensibly their #2 but it doesn't sound like there was a lot of conviction or separation between him and the next few guys otherwise again, they wouldn't have even entertained the trade down.

And quite frankly I'm not even saying I wanted him to trade down, just that the process is f***ed if they really were flying by the ass of their pants and scrambling once the Habs took Slaf.

they prob liked multiple people (obviously nemec more), but had to weigh options - if i move down to 4 and pick one of ____, ____, and ____, is it worth me gaining a 2nd rd pick?

i assume the offers to move down a few sports weren't attractive enough

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Point is those organizations started at the same point as we are right now. Yzerman wasn't perfect with the Lightning, notably with his Connolly and Kuokkuok picks. Fitz hasn't done picks as bad as those still. That's what he means, it'll come. Even those organizations that you give the benefit of the doubt to whiffed on picks.

Exactly this, and also the thing that keeps getting ignored conveniently is that they too messed up on draft picks.

 

[TheSituation]

If all you’re going to do with the pick is take Nemec, go ahead and trade down to the middle of the round. Chesley is nearly as good as Nemec and didn’t even go in the first round.

Lol, ok pro-scout.

 

[swiiscompos]

Fitz clearly said before the draft that it was unique because "we are looking at 5,6, 7 guys who all may have the same ceilings" and so they were looking at finding the "best possible player for the NJD". So clearly they didn't see Wright as a better prospect, so they chose someone in this group of 5-7 guys based on the team needs.

 

[NJDevs26]

I hope you are heading out to happy hour after work for a couple. Complaining about everything today.

Go head to the Vanecek thread, not true

I complain when they deserve complaining, I don't rip them by rote on everything like certain people (or blindly praise them like many others here).

 

[Emperoreddy]

Fitz clearly said before the draft that it was unique because "we are looking at 5,6, 7 guys who all may have the same ceilings" and so they were looking at finding the "best possible player for the NJD". So clearly they didn't see Wright as a better prospect, so they chose someone in this group of 5-7 guys based on the team needs.

Something cooled a lot of scouts off Wright. 3 teams passed on him and there are reports he wasn't top of Seattle's board either.

 

[longislanddevil]

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.

That statement is impossible to quantify right now. Maybe give these kids some years to develop further before making such a sweeping, declarative statement (and for the record, I liked Jiricek slightly more than Nemec but pleased with the pick),

 

[glenwo2]

Eh I don't think he's THAT into mock drafts and stuff to even know who Shane Wright is. He probably only knows where he was supposed to be drafted - which was more top five.

I think he could've been there at #5 if the Devils didn't win the Lottery, tbh.

And that is why I was so shocked and annoyed that he was picked at #2 because while he's not exactly a "reach" at that point, it's a big jump up from where he was supposed to be drafted.

Meanwhile, the bigger shocker to me is Cooley being picked before Wright. THAT is nuts to me.


EDIT : And before you say that Nemec wasn't getting past Seattle, I would say "fine. But Wright was so he'd shockingly be there at #5 ten" lol

 

[BananaGenetics]

So is it pronounced Nemich or Nemitz?

 

[RSeen]

Nemec is such a smooth skater. He has some dynamic qualities where you can see if things break right, he could be a Makar type. Not necessarily that quality of player but that player type in terms of style.

How do we find PP time for Nemec, Luke and Dougie in a few years?

 

[Stephen Gionta]

I'm more mad about who we picked going off the board than going off the board. A lot of people, like myself, didn't even want Wright at #2. Thing is, I wanted Cooley/Jiricek far more than Nemec. Time will tell who was right...

I would tend to think the guys who do this for a living will be right over you sitting and typing from your keyboard.... But yes in the draft, anything can happen. We will see.

 

[MadDevil]

The Finding Nemo memes with Nemec should be fun.

 

[Devs3cups]

I think he could've been there at #5 if the Devils didn't win the Lottery, tbh.

And that is why I was so shocked and annoyed that he was picked at #2 because while he's not exactly a "reach" at that point, it's a big jump up from where he was supposed to be drafted.

Meanwhile, the bigger shocker to me is Cooley being picked before Wright. THAT is nuts to me.


EDIT : And before you say that Nemec wasn't getting past Seattle, I would say "fine. But Wright was so he'd shockingly be there at #5 ten" lol

Doubt he wouldn't have been. Apparently Seattle were taking him at 4.

 

[Auto Pilot]

Nemec is such a smooth skater. He has some dynamic qualities where you can see if things break right, he could be a Makar type. Not necessarily that quality of player but that player type in terms of style.

How do we find PP time for Nemec, Luke and Dougie in a few years?

He does not have makars shot, vision, or transitional skating and def can’t play defense like he does. In fact his defense is almost non existent especially against the rush.

 

[Devs3cups]

So is it pronounced Nemich or Nemitz?

Apparently, it's "Nemitz"!



0:02 / 1:10

 

[MauDevils]

Something cooled a lot of scouts off Wright. 3 teams passed on him and there are reports he wasn't top of Seattle's board either.

Yeah. So who exactly did people expect us to trade back with? Seattle would have taken Nemec and Arizona didn't want Wright.

If we traded further back this place would have gone nuts.

 

[MadDevil]

I think he could've been there at #5 if the Devils didn't win the Lottery, tbh.

And that is why I was so shocked and annoyed that he was picked at #2 because while he's not exactly a "reach" at that point, it's a big jump up from where he was supposed to be drafted.

Meanwhile, the bigger shocker to me is Cooley being picked before Wright. THAT is nuts to me.


EDIT : And before you say that Nemec wasn't getting past Seattle, I would say "fine. But Wright was so he'd shockingly be there at #5 ten" lol

Supposed to be according to who? Scouting services whose rankings vary from that of NHL teams? Pronman said there were scouts he talked to outside of ours that had Nemec ranked in their top 2, so it's not like we went rogue here and took somebody that nobody thought could go that high.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Nemec is such a smooth skater. He has some dynamic qualities where you can see if things break right, he could be a Makar type. Not necessarily that quality of player but that player type in terms of style.

How do we find PP time for Nemec, Luke and Dougie in a few years?

Hamilton on 1st pp. Luke and Nemec on 2nd.

 

[RememberTheName]

I would tend to think the guys who do this for a living will be right over you sitting and typing from your keyboard.... But yes in the draft, anything can happen. We will see.

Yea I mean we will see. If it was that easy, though, scouts would be right all the time and the casual internet scout would never be right, but alas, that's not the case. I just try to do this for fun. I just want the Devils to get the best player possible to make their team the best team possible, and it's fun sifting through hours of footage trying to figure out who that is, just like the actual scouts do. I really only started doing this two years ago, so I am just trying to begin developing a track record for how my picks would have gone relative to how teams actually do just for fun.

 

[lightsout]

I think he could've been there at #5 if the Devils didn't win the Lottery, tbh.

And that is why I was so shocked and annoyed that he was picked at #2 because while he's not exactly a "reach" at that point, it's a big jump up from where he was supposed to be drafted.

Meanwhile, the bigger shocker to me is Cooley being picked before Wright. THAT is nuts to me.


EDIT : And before you say that Nemec wasn't getting past Seattle, I would say "fine. But Wright was so he'd shockingly be there at #5 ten" lol

In this scenario Philly would have been in front of us at #4 with Wright available. Who knows if they would take him or stick with Cutter.