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

[BananaGenetics]

It's so baffling because --- it isn't a need! The Devils have Severson and Hamilton! If they re-sign Severson they can have the right side sorted for 4 more years. It's an organizational need - the right side was barren - but it's not a present roster need.

Depending on how Nemec does in the AHL this year (or if he somehow makes the teams bottom pair), Severson could end up expendable.

Pretty unlikely Id think but given Nemec's abundant amount of pro games played already, its possible. In fact the smaller ice should be great for his zone defense Id think.

I dont see the need to keep Graves though. I feel good about Luke making the team after his Michigan season. Still not even sure if he wants to play the left side though, I feel that could be a slight wrinkle in the plans

 

[Blender]

Again you can not believe the quote, think it's out of context or someone's just lying but how else does that possibly read to anyone?

It reads that they had Slafkovsky at #1 and Nemec at #2, and that there wasn't a trade they could make that allowed them to pick Nemec still, so they just took him.

 

[NJDevs26]

Because he doesn't like the Nemec pick.

I actually don't hate the pick, I hate the team's process/mentality and am skeptical of the scouts/GM in general but I have no wish in turning this into a neverending back and forth. It's done and hopefully he does live up to his pick and we're not sitting here in three years complaining that Wright is a 70-80 point center while we drafted Damon Severson 2.0

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

It's so baffling because --- it isn't a need! The Devils have Severson and Hamilton! If they re-sign Severson they can have the right side sorted for 4 more years. It's an organizational need - the right side was barren - but it's not a present roster need.

It's not a need period. They didn't need another finesse d-man who isn't particularly physical. Jiricek would've fit this need narrative way more. They have no one with upside and is big and physical (out of the d prospects).

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

From everything I read and hear so far, one of the biggest reasons this kid got drafted is because how cool and calm he plays. Mix that with a good hockey IQ, that’s some good soup right there. Let Luke be the wild man O guy, Ok, Bahl, Leddy, or Barabosha be the rough and tumble guys and he can be the professor.

I like the idea of a heady Dman who just knows what to do even if he isn’t overtly physical.

 

[Alex NJD]

My extended family all love the pick lol, despite only 2 of my Uncles being knowledgeable on the sport. The rest are casual but passionate fans.

My entire father's side of the family is almost all here in NJ, all came over in the mid 80's to early 90's so most became instant Devils fans. They're all Gorale's also known as Highlanders or Polish Highlanders, but the ethnic group is also prevalent in North Slovakia and east Czech Republic. So there is a sense of kinship with Slovaks. Not sure if Nemec identifies as one but he was born less than 40 miles from my family's hometown in Poland. There will be plenty of Nemec jerseys in possession of my extended family.

 

[Oneiro]

I mean, if you're going to nitpick Nemec's defensive game and his need to get faster, make better reads, etc. whoa boy, can you put the knife to Jiricek's game, from his skating to his lack of restraint. And I can certainly see the beast he can become but there are much bigger overall questions with him, even if the ceiling is unique and explosive.

The other thing I'd say is that the Tanev, Cole, Dillon, etc-types have a price and it's a lot less expensive than the Hamilton, Keith-types etc.

 

[MadDevil]

It reads to me like they were surprised Slaf got taken and hadn’t considered any kind of contingency for trading down before that point

So basically your contention is Fitz is incompetent and never imagined the possibility that a player in a draft where the #1 pick wasn't decided, with a team in front of him that had basically said were undecided on who they were going to take, could go #1?

 

[Scorcho]

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.

you prob said makar was trash pre draft

 

[Captain3rdLine]

The issue is the process of apparently half-assing attempting to trade down at the last minute. The issue is also WHY he was their #2 guy, not that he was their #2 guy. But if you want to blindly trust in management have at it, they still have a lot to show me.

There is nothing that has suggested this was the case and it almost certainly wasn’t. They’ve been talking to months with these teams. Maybe they made some last minute calls but there was nothing there. That doesn’t mean they weren’t talking well before or that they half-assed anything.

You are literally just making up random things to complain about right now.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

It reads to me like they were surprised Slaf got taken and hadn’t considered any kind of contingency for trading down before that point

That obviously isn’t what happened. They would’ve been very prepared for the possibility of him going first as it was well documented and discussed as being possible.

Once again you’re just assuming all these negative things to complain about.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

You can not believe the quote, think it's out of context or someone's just lying but how else does that possibly read to anyone?

The quote doesn’t say anything close to what you’re saying. You’re taking some reach interpretation you came up with as what factually happened.

Nemec was number 2 on their board. Slafkovsky went first. They 100% had already discussed the possibility of trading down in all the different scenarios. Slafkovsky goes first they do some check up calls to see if there’s anything that could materialize that would make sense. There’s nothing there so they take the guy second on their board. Pretty simple.

Nothing there remotely suggests they never imagined or discussed amongst themselves and other teams the possibility of trading back if Slafkovsky gets taken first like you’re suggesting. That is such a reach that certainly isn’t true.

 

[MadDevil]

Also, did he not just reportedly offer #2 to Calgary for Tkachuk? Are we to believe that he only ever considered trading it for a player and never the possibility of trading down?

 

[Eggtimer]

We kind of had this same discussion regarding Scouch's appraisal of Slaf.


Forgive me for rehashing, but you are still here and still complaining about the pick, I figure it's fair game.

But if you have a bunch of guys at a certain tier, and one of those guys addresses an organizational need, I say make the need pick.

Like I've been saying, too many posters are still in the 2020 mindset where Wright is the clear cut BPA. But in 2022 he just isn't.

I’m not complaining about the puck at all ?
All I was trying to say is Scouching video was 99% him playing down Nemec , which I find odd as he says he is likely to be the first d man picked . There was never any praise really given to Nemec during his video .
I by no means mean this as me making a point about us and picking him . Just strictly Scouching and how he did the Nemec video.
I’m not complaing about the pick at all .

 

[glenwo2]

That should end the trade down crap. We wanted our guy, we picked our guy.

Welp.

Yeah...it sure does.

His overall plan was to go balls-to-the-wall in drafting Defensemen this draft.

I wish I would've known this ahead of time so I would've EXPECTED him to pass on Shane Wright.

I don’t see a board where both Wright and Nemec get past 4. In the world we don’t win the lottery Arizona picks Cooley, Seattle picks Nemec and the Flyers you would think take Wright unless they were so invested in going type with their pick and still picking Gauthier even over Wright

Then we'd pick either Jiricek or Cutter at 5.

 

[glenwo2]

Because he doesn't like the Nemec pick.

Neither do I.

But that was before I realized (as the draft continued) that Fitz was going D-men full-send just about the entire draft.

Wish I would've known that would've been his plan no matter what ahead of time before I wasted my breath B*tching....

 

[Goptor]

Neither do I.

But that was before I realized (as the draft continued) that Fitz was going D-men full-send just about the entire draft.

Wish I would've known that would've been his plan no matter what ahead of time before I wasted my breath B*tching....

I wonder if the scouting team considered missed COVID time affecting forwards the greatest? The only forwards they drafted are LONG term projects.

 

[Billdo]

Neither do I.

But that was before I realized (as the draft continued) that Fitz was going D-men full-send just about the entire draft.

Wish I would've known that would've been his plan no matter what ahead of time before I wasted my breath B*tching....

I'm fairly confident everyone here knows your unhappy and I'm glad the email I sent to Fitz to just go full blown RD focused to agitate you worked.


(I kid, I kid)

 

[Devs3cups]

From everything I read and hear so far, one of the biggest reasons this kid got drafted is because how cool and calm he plays. Mix that with a good hockey IQ, that’s some good soup right there. Let Luke be the wild man O guy, Ok, Bahl, Leddy, or Barabosha be the rough and tumble guys and he can be the professor.

I like the idea of a heady Dman who just knows what to do even if he isn’t overtly physical.

 

[OmNomNom]

can we relax on shane wright, the kid isn't some superstar guaranteed top 1C

if we find a better veteran top line forward, will people be satisfied? it may be better than having all rookies up top

 

[MWagg72]

Wasn't it known that this was a RD heavy draft? Why wouldn't we focus on the drafts position of strength? Ideally Slaf would have come first and then RD focus, but that was out of our hands. Hopefully the picks all pan out or at least look like they'll pan out and we can start moving some of the D caught in the logjam in hockey trades.

 

[glenwo2]

I'm fairly confident everyone here knows your unhappy and I'm glad the email I sent to Fitz to just go full blown RD focused to agitate you worked.


(I kid, I kid)

Diabolical.

can we relax on shane wright, the kid isn't some superstar guaranteed top 1C

if we find a better veteran top line forward, will people be satisfied? it may be better than having all rookies up top

Sure.

Get me Gaudreau.

 

[glenwo2]

Wasn't it known that this was a RD heavy draft? Why wouldn't we focus on the drafts position of strength? Ideally Slaf would have come first and then RD focus, but that was out of our hands. Hopefully the picks all pan out or at least look like they'll pan out and we can start moving some of the D caught in the logjam in hockey trades.

Yes it was known that this was a RD heavy draft which is why it didn't make all that much sense to me to pass on Wright when Fitz had the entire rest of the draft to acquire said RD's.

Just think...he drafts Wright and he would still end up drafting the same players he drafted afterward.

The only difference is we would've had someone (Wright) who can help NOW on offense instead of someone(Nemec) who will more than likely need at least a year (or more) in the AHL before coming up and playing on the backend.

I'm f'n tired of waiting here.

So hopefully, he throws money at Gaudreau (and I hope Gaudreau doesn't re-sign with Calgary) 'cause we need a big OFFENSIVE splash here.

Our Core players aren't getting any younger...

 

[Devs3cups]

Yes it was known that this was a RD heavy draft which is why it didn't make all that much sense to me to pass on Wright when Fitz had the entire rest of the draft to acquire said RD's.

Just think...he drafts Wright and he would still end up drafting the same players he drafted afterward.

The only difference is we would've had someone (Wright) who can help NOW on offense instead of someone(Nemec) who will more than likely need at least a year (or more) in the AHL before coming up and playing on the backend.

I'm f'n tired of waiting here.

So hopefully, he throws money at Gaudreau (and I hope Gaudreau doesn't re-sign with Calgary) 'cause we need a big OFFENSIVE splash here.

Our Core players aren't getting any younger...

I’ll ask you this, since I’m honestly interested in your opinion on this given your Wright love (which is absolutely fine), why do you think MTL and ARZ, who are absolutely brutal in regards to centre depth, passed on Wright?

 

[glenwo2]

I’ll ask you this, since I’m honestly interested in your opinion on this given your Wright love (which is absolutely fine), why do you think MTL and ARZ, who are absolutely brutal in regards to centre depth, passed on Wright?

For MTL, it's because Slaf wow'ed them enough (like they wow'ed us) to convince them to select him instead of Wright.

That makes sense to me because Slaf is an f'n beast and they're fortunate to have him.

ARZ? Their selection of Cooley shows their Management have the combined intellect of a doorknob as Wright is so much better than Cooley at their position, it's not even a contest. (ie Arizona brass is as DUMB AS A BOX OF ROCKS)

And you know who benefits in the end here? SEATTLE KRAKEN FANS. Christmas has come early for them.