New Jersey Devils select Simon Nemec 2nd overall

With Juraj Slafkovsky off the board, the Devils elected to take the smooth-skating blueliner.

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With Juraj Slafkovsky off the board, the New Jersey Devils pivoted and selected Simon Nemec with the 2nd overall pick.

Nemec is a smooth-skating right-handed defenseman who excels at breaking the puck out of the defensive zone and getting involved in transition. He makes a good first pass and is more than willing to carry the puck if there are lanes available to him.

He’ll often jump into the play as a 4th attacker and create another layer of offense for his team. He almost always sees green; there aren’t many situations he won’t get involved. Even on the penalty kill, Nemec showed a willingness to activate if he thought there was an opportunity to create a chance. He is a full blown rover.

I think Nemec is more threatening in transition than creating with shop setup in the offensive zone. He really needs to improve his shot; it often lacks the torque required to have any chance of beating a goaltender from range.

He would also benefit from more movement and elusiveness while walking the line; creating shooting lanes can be a struggle.

Defensively, I think Nemec has the gap control and stick work to be a plus defender.

He is unusually aggressive in the neutral zone, which he’ll need to tone down. A lot of his cerebral plays with and without the puck can be undone by the big mistake.

In the game breakdown I posted in May, Nemec (No. 7) made multiple bone-headed decisions without the puck that resulted in great looks against.

Nemec doesn’t have elite physical traits – be it straight line speed, a lethal shot, or the ability to overpower opponents – so he has to rely on his smarts. That’s why it’s pivotal he cuts down on some of his risky challenges moving forward.

While I think the Devils should have taken Shane Wright, who was the consensus No. 1 in this class for the better part of three years, I was not shocked they didn’t.

As I reported all along, the Devils were enamoured with Juraj Slafkovsky and much more likely to move the pick (or, clearly, go a little off the board) if he was selected 1st. They just didn’t love Wright.

I’ll have more on Nemec, and the draft class as a whole, in the days to come.