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

[Jason MacIsaac]

I would hazard a guess Nemec only needs one season in Utica. You don't hold someone down just because, that can stunt growth as well. This summer will be key, it's the first where he can finish early and have 4 or 5 months to train.

 

[stastny12]

Five points in 11 games. I don´t see why anyone should be worried. Imho he´s doing more than well.

 

[devilsblood]

Five points in 11 games. I don´t see why anyone should be worried. Imho he´s doing more than well.

Which is tied for 4th (with 7 other guys) on a low scoring team.

His +3 leads the team.

Is he or Walsh getting #1 PP? Walsh is another of the guys with 5 points thus far.

I'm doubting Nemec gets much PK minutes?

 

[Devs3cups]

Which is tied for 4th (with 7 other guys) on a low scoring team.

His +3 leads the team.

Is he or Walsh getting #1 PP? Walsh is another of the guys with 5 points thus far.

I'm doubting Nemec gets much PK minutes?

I believe he mostly plays on PP2!

 

[peto10]

Which is tied for 4th (with 7 other guys) on a low scoring team.

His +3 leads the team.

Is he or Walsh getting #1 PP? Walsh is another of the guys with 5 points thus far.

I'm doubting Nemec gets much PK minutes?

PK1 and PP2

 

[devilsblood]

PK1 and PP2

PK1? Love to hear that.

 

[Forge]

Which is tied for 4th (with 7 other guys) on a low scoring team.

His +3 leads the team.

Is he or Walsh getting #1 PP? Walsh is another of the guys with 5 points thus far.

I'm doubting Nemec gets much PK minutes?

How did Utica get so bad, so quickly lol

 

[Jack Be Quick]

How did Utica get so bad, so quickly lol

Remove Zetterlund, Greer, Holtz, and Bahl and this is what you're left with.

It's also my understanding that their C situation is a nightmare.

 

[Guttersniped]

How did Utica get so bad, so quickly lol

Their top four scorers last season are all gone:
#1: Chase De Leo: 55 GP 21G 35A 56 points
(29th in AHL)
#2: Fabian Zetterlund: 58 GP 24G 28A 52 points
(42nd in the AHL)
#3: AJ Greer: 53 GP 22G 30A 52 points
(43rd in the AHL)
#4: Alex Holtz: 52 GP 26G 25A 51 points
(47th in the AHL)

The team was lacking at center last season and they lost:
#9: Frederik Gauthier: 51 GP 8G 24A 34 points
Their best center and a critical defensive player.
#11: Nate Schnarr: 43 GP 13G 13A 26 points
Their 2nd best center, who we traded to Montreal for Hammond.
Gauthier didn’t play in the AHL playoffs last year either and the loss of these two guys really crippled the team in terms of possession.

They also lost another vet playdriver:
#12: Brian Flynn: 61GP 13G 13A 26 points.
He was likely a bit of a disappointment but at least he was more helpful than Mason Geertsen is this season.

Who did they add to replace these players.
1. C/W Brian Pinho, a very good tweener pick-up.
2. Zach Senyshyn
3. Jack Dugan
4. An allegedly healthy Tyce Thompson (he’s played 7 of 11 games)
5. For now, Andreas Johnsson (he played 6 games).
6. I don’t know… NCAA FA Brian Halonan I guess?

So lots of problems here. The team has way less talent and offense, both in terms of goal scoring and in terms of play driving.

And the team not only has the same void at center, it’s actually a bigger void this year. I guess you can say they added two centerman with Pinho and Tyce but I’m not sure Thompson is even a center and he’s never healthy.

They needed to add least another quality tweener scoring center to give this team more life. We have six open contract spots available, there’s zero excuse for the poor team building shown in Utica. Not enough centermen or play drivers and not enough depth. Other top organizations do a better job (Carolina, Anaheim, Dallas, etc)

@Bad Goalie and I have been a couple of Cassandras about this but it’s just frustrating because this team’s struggles are about as shocking as the sun rising. If it didn’t have two great young goaltenders Utica would have been abused a lot more.

Center is a pretty damn important position so not having much of anything there is bad and we don’t really have dynamic play driving wingers either. We have shooters.

 

[Xirik]

Their top four scorers last season are all gone:
#1: Chase De Leo: 55 GP 21G 35A 56 points
(29th in AHL)
#2: Fabian Zetterlund: 58 GP 24G 28A 52 points
(42nd in the AHL)
#3: AJ Greer: 53 GP 22G 30A 52 points
(43rd in the AHL)
#4: Alex Holtz: 52 GP 26G 25A 51 points
(47th in the AHL)

The team was lacking at center last season and they lost:
#9: Frederik Gauthier: 51 GP 8G 24A 34 points
Their best center and a critical defensive player.
#11: Nate Schnarr: 43 GP 13G 13A 26 points
Their 2nd best center, who we traded to Montreal for Hammond.
Gauthier didn’t play in the AHL playoffs last year either and the loss of these two guys really crippled the team in terms of possession.

They also lost another vet playdriver:
#12: Brian Flynn: 61GP 13G 13A 26 points.
He was likely a bit of a disappointment but at least he was more helpful than Mason Geertsen is this season.

Who did they add to replace these players.
1. C/W Brian Pinho, a very good tweener pick-up.
2. Zach Senyshyn
3. Jack Dugan
4. An allegedly healthy Tyce Thompson (he’s played 7 of 11 games)
5. For now, Andreas Johnsson (he played 6 games).
6. I don’t know… NCAA FA Brian Halonan I guess?

So lots of problems here. The team has way less talent and offense, both in terms of goal scoring and in terms of play driving.

And the team not only has the same void at center, it’s actually a bigger void this year. I guess you can say they added two centerman with Pinho and Tyce but I’m not sure Thompson is even a center and he’s never healthy.

They needed to add least another quality tweener scoring center to give this team more life. We have six open contract spots available, there’s zero excuse for the poor team building shown in Utica. Not enough centermen or play drivers and not enough depth. Other top organizations do a better job (Carolina, Anaheim, Dallas, etc)

@Bad Goalie and I have been a couple of Cassandras about this but it’s just frustrating because this team’s struggles are about as shocking as the sun rising. If it didn’t have two great young goaltenders Utica would have been abused a lot more.

Center is a pretty damn important position so not having much of anything there is bad and we don’t really have dynamic play driving wingers either. We have shooters.

What I don't get is how teams that have been devoid of high draft picks for years such as the Scranton Penguins and other AHL teams manage to make the playoffs almost every year yet it only happens to our AHL team when we are totally stacked with prospects.

Is it just that the Utica/New Jersey is cheap and not willing to pay career AHLers to play for us?

 

[Captain3rdLine]

What I don't get is how teams that have been devoid of high draft picks for years such as the Scranton Penguins and other AHL teams manage to make the playoffs almost every year yet it only happens to our AHL team when we are totally stacked with prospects.

Is it just that the Utica/New Jersey is cheap and not willing to pay career AHLers to play for us?

Well Scranton loaded up on college free agents this past off-season. Pittsburg didn’t have any prospects so they just signed a bunch of good college players. I’m sure stuff like that helps as well as having some solid veterans.

 

[Bad Goalie]

Their top four scorers last season are all gone:
#1: Chase De Leo: 55 GP 21G 35A 56 points
(29th in AHL)
#2: Fabian Zetterlund: 58 GP 24G 28A 52 points
(42nd in the AHL)
#3: AJ Greer: 53 GP 22G 30A 52 points
(43rd in the AHL)
#4: Alex Holtz: 52 GP 26G 25A 51 points
(47th in the AHL)

The team was lacking at center last season and they lost:
#9: Frederik Gauthier: 51 GP 8G 24A 34 points
Their best center and a critical defensive player.
#11: Nate Schnarr: 43 GP 13G 13A 26 points
Their 2nd best center, who we traded to Montreal for Hammond.
Gauthier didn’t play in the AHL playoffs last year either and the loss of these two guys really crippled the team in terms of possession.

They also lost another vet playdriver:
#12: Brian Flynn: 61GP 13G 13A 26 points.
He was likely a bit of a disappointment but at least he was more helpful than Mason Geertsen is this season.

Who did they add to replace these players.
1. C/W Brian Pinho, a very good tweener pick-up.
2. Zach Senyshyn
3. Jack Dugan
4. An allegedly healthy Tyce Thompson (he’s played 7 of 11 games)
5. For now, Andreas Johnsson (he played 6 games).
6. I don’t know… NCAA FA Brian Halonan I guess?

So lots of problems here. The team has way less talent and offense, both in terms of goal scoring and in terms of play driving.

And the team not only has the same void at center, it’s actually a bigger void this year. I guess you can say they added two centerman with Pinho and Tyce but I’m not sure Thompson is even a center and he’s never healthy.

They needed to add least another quality tweener scoring center to give this team more life. We have six open contract spots available, there’s zero excuse for the poor team building shown in Utica. Not enough centermen or play drivers and not enough depth. Other top organizations do a better job (Carolina, Anaheim, Dallas, etc)

@Bad Goalie and I have been a couple of Cassandras about this but it’s just frustrating because this team’s struggles are about as shocking as the sun rising. If it didn’t have two great young goaltenders Utica would have been abused a lot more.

Center is a pretty damn important position so not having much of anything there is bad and we don’t really have dynamic play driving wingers either. We have shooters.

I couldn't have said it better. Kudos to you.

 

[HBK27]

What I don't get is how teams that have been devoid of high draft picks for years such as the Scranton Penguins and other AHL teams manage to make the playoffs almost every year yet it only happens to our AHL team when we are totally stacked with prospects.

Is it just that the Utica/New Jersey is cheap and not willing to pay career AHLers to play for us?

It's a damn shame that we're not fielding a better team in Utica as it seems like we have an awesome fanbase up there. Hopefully they can still turn it around this season.

 

[TBF1972]

i could see the devils drafting 4 c in the next draft.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

What I don't get is how teams that have been devoid of high draft picks for years such as the Scranton Penguins and other AHL teams manage to make the playoffs almost every year yet it only happens to our AHL team when we are totally stacked with prospects.

Is it just that the Utica/New Jersey is cheap and not willing to pay career AHLers to play for us?

One of the "jobs" of a minor league affiliate is to produce NHLers. Look at how many players on the current team played there. Also, low draft picks have more of a chance of becoming career AHLers.

There is no indication the Devils owners are "cheap" with respect to building the organization

 

[bossram]

Nemec just needed some time to adapt to the league. Was never worried about him.

I hope he's dominating the AHL by the end of the season. Would make it a tough decision to try and integrate two rookies on the blue line next year (Luke and Nemec)...but a good tough decision.

 

[Devs3cups]

Looks like Nemec is playing well down in the A.

 

[ninetyeight]

I don't know, there's some defensively questionable dman in that list. And Jiricek is dominating Nemec. I know GS is pretty offensive heavy stat (though it does count stuff like corsi against and blocked shots), but shouldn't a #2 pick who was pretty dominant in international games (against men!!11!) do even better? Or does the Utica team just suck this year?

 

[youryeah]

I don't know, there's some defensively questionable dman in that list. And Jiricek is dominating Nemec. I know GS is pretty offensive heavy stat (though it does count stuff like corsi against and blocked shots), but shouldn't a #2 pick who was pretty dominant in international games (against men!!11!) do even better? Or does the Utica team just suck this year?

utica is...

not very good

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I don't know, there's some defensively questionable dman in that list. And Jiricek is dominating Nemec. I know GS is pretty offensive heavy stat (though it does count stuff like corsi against and blocked shots), but shouldn't a #2 pick who was pretty dominant in international games (against men!!11!) do even better? Or does the Utica team just suck this year?

I wouldn’t say Jiricek being 0.07 ahead of Nemec is dominating him whatsoever. Also in a smaller sample size on a better team.

I’d say this is encouraging for an 18 year old defensmen on a bad team. Especially when you look at some of the other names around. It’s also just one metric.
But this is the highest level Nemec has played at consistently to this point. Much stronger than Slovak league. Him having the 15th best game score on one of the worst teams is a big positive IMO.

 

[ninetyeight]

Him having the 15th best game score on one of the worst teams is a big positive IMO.

Definitely!

With Jiricek it's also him having a better ppg and the main board leaning more to him.

Anything good is good, I just couldn't help myself seeing names like Ty Smith, Walsh and Cormier there.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Definitely!

With Jiricek it's also him having a better ppg and the main board leaning more to him.

Anything good is good, I just couldn't help myself seeing names like Ty Smith, Walsh and Cormier there.

Those names are good to me. Those guys should all be top defensmen in the AHL even if they have/would struggle defensively at the NHL level.

 

[Eggtimer]

Also who knows what they are asking of Nemec in Utica . They could be very happy with certain aspects of his game and want him to work on things that need improving , and might not show that great in score comparison stats ?
Who is to say for sure . Maybe he would be on top or close to it if they had him working on parts if his game that strengthens his numbers for calculating game score ?
I have faith that he still has potential to be a very good player

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Also who knows what they are asking of Nemec in Utica . They could be very happy with certain aspects of his game and want him to work on things that need improving , and might not show that great in score comparison stats ?
Who is to say for sure . Maybe he would be on top or close to it if they had him working on parts if his game that strengthens his numbers for calculating game score ?
I have faith that he still has potential to be a very good player

That game score is a big positive. By that metric he’s a really good Defensmen as an 18 year old in the AHL on the second worst team in the league.

I feel like some people are interpreting it as not that good. Make no mistake it is impressive.

 

[Guttersniped]

Definitely!

With Jiricek it's also him having a better ppg and the main board leaning more to him.

Anything good is good, I just couldn't help myself seeing names like Ty Smith, Walsh and Cormier there.

I don’t know how these guys are comparable considering their ages.

Walsh has been pretty productive in the AHL since he got there. He was also a freshman at Harvard in his D+1 season and was an AHL rookie in his D+4 season in 2020-21. He’s 23.

The player I’m actually surprised isn’t doing better is Ty Smith, maybe his team’s offense is anemic too. It’s his D+5 season, he’s 22 and he’s produced in the NHL. I thought he would tear it up a little more in the AHL.

And Cormier is a really good prospect but he rose after the draft because of his later big seasons in juniors.

Maybe you didn’t know Samuel Bolduc is 21 year Isles prospect or you would be bummed about him too. Bridgeport is scoring a bunch this year, good centers and nice tweener depth as well as productive prospects. (It hurts me to see it honestly.)