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

[SteveCangialosi123]

The Stillman pick stunk when it happened and looks worse now. It was a late 1st, I don’t really care, most are misses in that range anyway. Kill Fitz for that, go ahead. The Nemec pick isn’t analogous to that at all considering he had historically good pre-draft production.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Who's that?

We're talking about Gaudreau here.

Stay on topic!!

This is the Nemec thread though

We have the potential to have comparable D groups to these teams IMO. Unlikely our #1 will match each of theirs but outside of that, we could have similar depth.

I think Nemec has a chance to become like Hedman, but not Makar. Makar is in his own McDavid tier of defensemen. More important than that though, they may have a trio of Hamilton, Hughes, and Nemec in the playoffs and that is truly insane. I don't think any team could match that. On top of that, we will still have Hamilton for a while when Luke and Nemec become more experienced.

 

[Blackjack]

Fitz has made 5 first rounds picks before this draft. Nothing has blown up in his face yet so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

Holtz is an unknown at this point. But that wasn’t against consensus.

Mercer looks great so far.

Mukhammadullin is an unknown at this point that remains to be seen.

So one of those picks looks really good so far and it’s too early on the other two.

Luke Hughes looks good so far and is clearly very talented but he still remains to be seen.

Stillman remains to be seen but was certainly a reach and doesn’t look like a great pick at this point. But as I said he still remains to be seen and he was the 29th pick.


Only 1 of the 5 picks is on a bad track at this point.
There’s nothing horrible about this track record right now. Certainly nothing that’s blown up in his face either.

Oh, now suddenly that matters? Holtz absolutely drops in a re-draft. If you want to defer to Fitz and his scouts' judgement and say we can't go on consensus for Wright, why aren't you killing him for missing out on Jarvis, Lundell, or Quinn?

In all honesty, I wouldn't even grade the Hughes pick one way or the other. I think he made that pick for Jack and I can't say that was the wrong thing to do.

 

[Forge]

Just a reminder that last year Hughes was eighth on Bobby Mac's final board. If the Devils would have drafted the guy that they should have based on Bobby's board, they would have been absolutely eviscerated by this forum because that guy would have been Edvinsson, who had a very limited number of supporters if I remember correctly.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I know that Carolina, Tampa, and Colorado use scouts, what an absolutely moronic comment. They also don't pass on obviously superior players for perceived need, or because they want "their guy". They leave that kind of pants shitting idiocy to the Arizona and Fitz tier GMs. I'm no Ron Francis fan, but it's amazing that he could figure out that you don't pass on Shane Wright just because you took Matty Beniers last year.

You mean the Colorado team that wanted Patrick but settled with Makar? I'm sure they knew Makar was going to be a generational d-man. Or the Lightning team that didn't pick Point until the 3rd round because they knew he was going to be an impact player.

Please give me this time machine you are using that makes Wright an "obviously superior player".

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Oh, now suddenly that matters? Holtz absolutely drops in a re-draft. If you want to defer to Fitz and his scouts' judgement and say we can't go on consensus for Wright, why aren't you killing him for missing out on Jarvis, Lundell, or Quinn?

In all honesty, I wouldn't even grade the Hughes pick one way or the other. I think he made that pick for Jack and I can't say that was the wrong thing to do.

No that doesn’t matter. Just added that in because you seem to think we need to draft the consensus player.

When and in what world did I say we can’t go consensus lol?

We shouldn’t draft based on who’s consensus but if the consensus guy is who we want we sure as well should take them.
Wright would’ve been my pick too.

I’m also not killing him for missing out on them because we haven’t seen how Holtz turns out yet.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Oh, now suddenly that matters? Holtz absolutely drops in a re-draft. If you want to defer to Fitz and his scouts' judgement and say we can't go on consensus for Wright, why aren't you killing him for missing out on Jarvis, Lundell, or Quinn?

In all honesty, I wouldn't even grade the Hughes pick one way or the other. I think he made that pick for Jack and I can't say that was the wrong thing to do.

Why? Because Alexander Holtz just put up 26 goals and 51 points in 52 AHL games. Believe it or not, redrafts a couple years after a draft don’t mean shit. Where does Makar go in a redraft in 2018? Where does Robertson go in a redraft in 2019? None of this shit matters.

 

[Blackjack]

Just a reminder that last year Hughes was eighth on Bobby Mac's final board. If the Devils would have drafted the guy that they should have based on Bobby's board, they would have been absolutely eviscerated by this forum because that guy would have been Edvinsson, who had a very limited number of supporters if I remember correctly.

Edvinsson is doing just fine. He was not well liked around here, but the scouts were vindicated in that ranking.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Just a reminder that last year Hughes was eighth on Bobby Mac's final board. If the Devils would have drafted the guy that they should have based on Bobby's board, they would have been absolutely eviscerated by this forum because that guy would have been Edvinsson, who had a very limited number of supporters if I remember correctly.

It’s quite literally just people finding a way to complain when the guy they like isn’t chosen. They wine and speculate and come up with reasons to suggest its an incredibly stupid pick.

As I’ve said multiple times people woildve been freaking out if we took Makar in 2017. How about we let things play out before full on ripping the pick and acting like it was the dumbest pick in the world.

 

[Blackjack]

Why? Because Alexander Holtz just put up 26 goals and 51 points in 52 AHL games. Believe it or not, redrafts a couple years after a draft don’t mean shit. Where does Makar go in a redraft in 2018? Where does Robertson go in a redraft in 2019? None of this shit matters.

Let's not act like Holtz's callups weren't deeply concerning. We're two years past 2020. In 2019 redraft I absolutely believe Makar goes #1.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

They've missed on way, way fewer picks than Fitz has.

Have they? Fitz has been here 2 years. Where's your time machine? Can I use it?

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Let's not act like Holtz's callups weren't deeply concerning. We're two years past 2020. In 2019 redraft I absolutely believe Makar goes #1.

Those 9 games were deeply concerning

 

[Triumph]

My guess is that Montreal wishes that Slaf was a center. There was a CLEAR top two at the draft, and Montreal to the guy that they think is going to be better, even though he wasn't playing a position of need. (Fitz should take notes)

What are you talking about, literally every position is a position of need for the Canadiens. Yes, okay, the NHL team does not immediately need wingers in that they have players signed for that position, but it's not a strength of the team, the wingers are old as hell except for Caufield.

Likewise neither do the Devils immediately need an RHD.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I don’t understand how people can be this fired up about this pick.

I mean tbf, if they picked Jiricek, I'd be fired up for sure so can't really say anything about people being fired up. It's just the dumb takes that are funny.

I was literally guessing they'd pick Gauthier or Jiricek because I too was not really confident in Fitz going for a high upside guy and just going for need. Like I wrote earlier, Nemec was not even on my radar for the devils to pick because he's like completely not what Fitz likes. Idk why people are so ignorant to this. This is a bpa pick through and through.

 

[JimEIV]

I have no idea how this will turn out...but I honestly have the feeling that this more "the right choice" than not.

It just hits so many of the right notes for me.

- A Defenseman - Always a plus
- A Right Handed Defenseman
- By most accounts good at both ends
- Excellent skater
- High IQ
- Dominate in Slovakia

At the very least it seems to pass the sniff test. And if the most rosey scenario doesn't pan out I'd still prefer a top 4 defender to 2nd liner forward... especially a Right Handed defender that has the potential to be used in different situations.

But if the best scenario pans out and we end up with 2 high end defenders in Luke and Simon that will be more transformative than any 60/70 point forward.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Let's not act like Holtz's callups weren't deeply concerning. We're two years past 2020. In 2019 redraft I absolutely believe Makar goes #1.

Don’t be ridiculous.
No way Makar goes #1 in a 2019 redraft. Hasn’t played a single regular season game.

10 solid playoff games wouldn’t have had him go #1 over Hischier who had played 151 games with 99 points as the devils 1C including a season where he brought them to the playoffs as an 18 year old.

Even Heiskanen had done more at that point and possibly goes over him.

It’s also completely irrelevant to his point. There’s a ton of players who wouldn’t go as high in a redraft 1 or 2 years later who would go higher 4-5 years after the draft.

There’s a chance Holtz takes off at some point and looks like a good pick. I have my concerns about Holtz which I have voiced but there’s talent and it’s far too early to call it a bad pick.

 

[Blackjack]

Have they? Fitz has been here 2 years. Where's your time machine? Can I use it?

Nobody can have an opinion on anything without waiting for at least three years to go by.

Those 9 games were deeply concerning

Yes, they were.

What are you talking about, literally every position is a position of need for the Canadiens. Yes, okay, the NHL team does not immediately need wingers in that they have players signed for that position, but it's not a strength of the team, the wingers are old as hell except for Caufield.

Likewise neither do the Devils immediately need an RHD.

?? I was responding to a post suggesting that Montreal needed centers so passing on Wright was extra damning.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I mean tbf, if they picked Jiricek, I'd be fired up for sure so can't really say anything about people being fired up. It's just the dumb takes that are funny.

I was literally guessing they'd pick Gauthier or Jiricek because I too was not really confident in Fitz going for a high upside guy and just going for need. Like I wrote earlier, Nemec was not even on my radar for the devils to pick because he's like completely not what Fitz likes. Idk why people are so ignorant to this. This is a bpa pick through and through.

I just think it’s a bit unreasonable to freak out when for all you know you could be very wrong 4-5 years down the road. No one is a time machine and everyone is just trying there best to project these kids.

I would have a hard time getting nearly as excited about Jiricek but lots of people really like him and I’m very aware that I could be wrong about him down the road.


For example a lot of people would’ve freaked out if Makar went top 2 in 2017.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I mean, if Fitz was pulling rabbits out of his hat every year a la Yzerman, then sure, he's earned the benefit of the doubt. Makar would have been tough to swallow with Patrick and Hischier available, but I would easily trust him on Nemec.

Fitz absolutely does not have that kind of track record. Every time he reaches for someone it blows up in his face, that's a big reason I'm so irritated.

Another guy who is in love with Yzerman. Dude has been gm for over 10 years so obviously he has a "track record". Guess who his picks were in his 1st 3 years? Connolly, Nemestnikov, and Koekkoek. Whoa, pulling out rabbit out of his hat every year. uh-huh.

Actually, going back and looking again, his first round "track record" is pretty terrible in the 1st round. He's clearly learned a lot since his Tampa days though. So yea...Fitz has been gm for 2 years, get off his ass.

 

[glenwo2]

This is the Nemec thread though

With all due respect, do you know what a sarcastic joke is?

I thought the goofy emoji made that clear.

Do I have to now start putting a disclaimer to people here saying "OH BY THE WAY, THIS IS A JOKE" everytime? Come on, man...

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

In all honesty, I wouldn't even grade the Hughes pick one way or the other. I think he made that pick for Jack and I can't say that was the wrong thing to do.

Speculation, again. Pretty nonsense one too.

Nobody can have an opinion on anything without waiting for at least three years to go by.

Yet here you are, ripping Fitz constantly.

 

[McDuffz88]

I'm sure he's a fine human being. I wish he was the Rangers GM.
None, they've all been great.
I mean, if Fitz was pulling rabbits out of his hat every year a la Yzerman, then sure, he's earned the benefit of the doubt. Makar would have been tough to swallow with Patrick and Hischier available, but I would easily trust him on Nemec.
Fitz absolutely does not have that kind of track record. Every time he reaches for someone it blows up in his face, that's a big reason I'm so irritated.

Who has he reached for besides Stillman? Mukhamadullin was a reach I guess you can say but he's looking like a fine prospect so idk why you're complaining about him. So far Fitz picks have been Hughes, Holtz, Mercer, Mukhamadullin, Stillman, and now Nemec. Hughes will be a success, Holtz wasn't a reach, Mercer has already hit, Mukhamadullin is still unknown but has shown great potential. The only one that was questionable is Stillman. I won't complain about Nemec because it's virtually impossible to trade for a top 4 RD without giving up the farm.

 

[ninetyeight]

Are the people who wanted Jiricek more than Nemec, the same people who want Ty Smith out because of his bad skating? I like Jiricek, but the fact that he's gotten so much criticism on his skating already should be a concern.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Not to derail the thread too much but does detroit still have the same head scout when Holland was there? That guy was a magician. Him + Yzerman would explain why Yzerman is suddenly making insane picks in the 1st round.

 

[Devs3cups]

Who has he reached for besides Stillman? Mukhamadullin was a reach I guess you can say but he's looking like a fine prospect so idk why you're complaining about him. So far Fitz picks have been Hughes, Holtz, Mercer, Mukhamadullin, Stillman, and now Nemec. Hughes will be a success, Holtz wasn't a reach, Mercer has already hit, Mukhamadullin is still unknown but has shown great potential. The only one that was questionable is Stillman. I won't complain about Nemec because it's virtually impossible to trade for a top 4 RD without giving up the farm.

High possibility he's a top 2 guy too.