The New Jersey Devils will probably be ready on bated breath over the following 48 hours to get a clearer image of the harm sustained by defenseman Simon Nemec within the Olympic qualifier event earlier Friday between Slovakia and Hungary. Beat reporter James Nichols quickly reported that the prognosis was good as Crew Slovakia’s physician doesn’t consider something is damaged or dislocated however extra checks will probably be run Saturday.
It doesn’t seem that Nemec will probably be out long run and not using a break or dislocation so he ought to nonetheless be in line to start out the 12 months on time with New Jersey. The play in query happened within the again half of the second interval with Nemec colliding into the nook boards with a participant from Crew Hungary which precluded him from taking part in the remainder of Friday’s motion. Crew Slovakia went on to win the sport by a rating of 7-3 and can tackle Crew Kazakhstan to advance.
The younger Slovakian defenseman is on the eve of beginning his sophomore marketing campaign on the NHL on the heels of a strong rookie season. Nemec performed in 60 video games for the Devils final 12 months and put up three targets and 19 factors total. He wasn’t a game-changer on the again finish, nor a legal responsibility — which is greater than many 19-year-olds can say about their first style of NHL motion. New Jersey will probably be hoping for extra on each side of the puck however it’s already obvious they belief him as he completed fourth on the workforce in common ice time in 5-on-5 play.
The Devils could possibly gear down Nemec’s duties for the 2024-25 season after a number of key free-agent additions on the again finish. The group may slot Nemec right into a extra comfy position on the bottom-pairing subsequent to Brenden Dillon to provide him extra room to develop.
New Jersey can’t afford to lose as many defensemen as they did final 12 months to harm; this information is a serious avoidance of that. Luke Hughes was the one defenseman on the roster final season out there to play in all 82 video games and the man-games misplaced to harm had a serious half of their 31-point drop within the standings year-on-year.