Devils Simon Nemec Mostly Strong in NHL Debut

New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec showed poise and confidence in his NHL debut. 

The No.1 prospect in New Jersey’s system has been oozing confidence since he was drafted by the Devils second overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. On Friday, he didn’t feel any jitters except for maybe one moment. 

“Maybe just in the rookie lap,” Nemec answered when asked if he was nervous at all. 

Putting aside an embarrassing loss to the San Jose Sharks last night, Nemec played quite well in his first game. 

The Devils were forced to call up their top prospect in lieu of losing star defenseman Dougie Hamilton to surgery on his left pectoral and Brendan Smith to suspension following Thursday night’s tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Nemec has been quite the force down in the American Hockey League Scoring eight points (two goals and six assists) in 13 games this season with the Utica Comets.  The 19-year-old Slovakian defenseman had plenty of success last season as well, setting the AHL record for goals by a teenage defenseman (12) en route to a 34-point season in 65 games. As a result, Nemec was named to the AHL Top Prospect Team after the season.

Nemec made a significant impression in his first two training camps and preseasons as well. In fact, it was a hard enough impression that he made it to the final round of cuts, and the Devils’ brass considered keeping him from the get-go. Nemec stated this fall he felt he proved everything he needed to in order to remain in the NHL.

However, now the Devils require his services and this could be just the beginning of a very promising career. 

He wasn’t perfect. It’s likely why he didn’t start the season with New Jersey as head coach Lindy Ruff expressed reservations about having two rookies on the blue line. Although, Luke Hughes plays mostly like a veteran. He’s been quite impressive this season, too.

On Nemec’s first shift of his career, he was caught out of position and the Sharks took advantage scoring a goal on the stick of Jacob MacDonald.

That wasn’t the only one.

The rookie defenseman pinched too high in the offensive zone during the second period which resulted in Anthony Duclair’’s second goal of the game.

The fact of the matter is rookie mistakes are going to happen as they did on Friday night. However, he handled it with a veteran’s mindset. 

“I try not to think about it,” Nemec said about being on the ice for a couple of Sharks goals. “It’s hockey, mistakes happen.”

For every goal against he was on the ice for, Nemec contributed to one for the Devils. The rookie defenseman collected his first NHL point, a primary assist on the power play. He later collected another, a secondary assist on a goal by Ondrej Palat.