Option Four: Simon Nemec – D
The Seattle Kraken have another defenseman to keep an eye on going into this draft. Simon Nemec is a right-shot defenseman who registered 25 assists in 39 games for HK Nitra in Slovakia and he added 17 points in 19 playoff games.
Nemec looks like the total package. He is good defensively and also can help spark offense for his team. If the Kraken want to start building up their blue one starting with Nemec definitely would not hurt.
At the end of the day, I do think this is a two-player race. The Kraken should pick either Nemec or Jiricek with their fourth overall pick. The team needs to add that future top defenseman and either one of those guys can be that person for the team.
The Kraken added their top center last draft and now they can work on their top defensemen. There are going to be plenty of opportunities later in the draft to add more forwards who could potentially turn into something.
It is always interesting to see how defensemen who could very well be talked about in the top three end up falling out a bit due to how good a certain forward has been.
That was what happened with Bowen Byram a few years ago, it looked like he should have been picked third but he ended up falling to the fourth overall spot. The Kraken cannot afford to pass up on a top defenseman for the future of their team.