Simon Nemec is going to be a great New Jersey Devils player for a long time.
This change has already started for the New Jersey Devils. With the injury to Dougie Hamilton and the suspension of Brenden Smith, they called up top prospect Simon Nemec.
Nemec was the second overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. He is expecting to be a big part of the future on the Devils’ blue line. He didn’t make the team out of camp but not for any other reason other than development.
It seems to have paid off as he was incredible in his NHL debut. He shot the puck, he didn’t fear anything just because he was a rookie, and he looked like he belonged right away.
The Devils have had some incredible young players debut over the years. Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, and Alexander Holtz are a few examples. None of them had a debut game as strong as Nemec.
Now, they need to keep him on the NHL team no matter what. Smith is going to be suspended for only one more game. When he comes back, Nemec should not be out of the lineup for Smith to come back.
With Luke Hughes and Kevin Bahl playing a lot, that is a lot of youth on the blue line but developing them is the most important thing. Nemec can also help this team win more than Smith. He shouldn’t play another game in the AHL if we are being honest with ourselves.