CALGARY — Playing in a celebrity soccer game last week with fellow Slovaks Martin Pospisil and Sam Honzek, little did Simon Nemec know he’d soon be one of their Calgary Flames teammates.
But following four frustrating seasons in New Jersey where the 22-year-old defenceman was brought along much slower than he wanted, Nemec will finally get the opportunity to join them in Calgary to demonstrate why he was the second-overall pick in the 2022 draft.
After several years of stockpiling draft picks, Craig Conroy finally found an age-appropriate cornerstone to spend some of them on.
This was not the type of move signalling the Flames are ready to cut corners (or turn the corner) on their rebuild.
It was a perfect example of cashing in on a unique opportunity made possible by Nemec’s frustration and Calgary’s extensive draft capital.
“When you get a 22-year-old right-shot defenceman that was second overall in the draft and he’s on the upswing, that’s something we thought we had to target,” Conroy told Sportsnet, after sending the Devils a conditional 2027 first-round pick (from Vegas), a conditional 2028 first-round pick (from Colorado), a 2026 second-round pick (from the Rangers) and minor-league defenceman Etienne Morin for Nemec and right winger Maxim Tsyplakov. (Both conditional first-round picks are top-10 protected.)
“We paid a big price, there’s no doubt, but that’s why we got those (picks). The key for me was keeping our own picks — that was the priority. You look at Vegas and Colorado — they’re very good teams — so those are going to be later picks in the draft. And we felt like to get a player of this calibre, it was worth putting all these things in to get him.”
Before anyone gets too concerned the acquisition of another right-shot defenceman could infringe on the growth or ice time of the team’s most coveted prospect — Zayne Parekh — chew on this nugget from the GM:
“I can definitely see Parekh on the left side,” said Conroy, who watched the 20-year-old start to flourish late in the year, partially on his off-side.
“I thought he played really well there with (Zach) Whitecloud (another righty). He actually said he enjoyed it more at the end of the year, so that’s why I wasn’t afraid to do something with another right shot guy.”
So, pencil in Kevin Bahl and Nemec on the top pair, and Parekh and Whitecloud on the second unit, with young guys like Yan Kuznetsov (lefty), Abram Wiebe (lefty) and Hunter Brzustewicz (righty) pushing alongside veteran lefties Olli Maatta and Joel Hanley and righty Brayden Pachal. Lots of healthy competition there, and plenty of reasons to believe the Flames will opt for a forward when they pick sixth overall Friday.
“He moves the puck well, he can play both special teams, he can play against top players, sees the ice well, jumps in on the offence,” said Conroy of Nemec, whose second full year in the NHL this season saw him score 11 goals and 26 points in 68 games.
“He was kind of behind a few guys there, where I think he’s going to get to really take a more prominent role here.”
Nemec said he never asked for a trade, “but both sides kind of knew something had to happen,” he said of the frustration surrounding the fact the 6-foot-1, 190-pound defender spent 112 games in the minors over his first three seasons.
“It was frustrating a little bit because I felt I can get more ice time, and when I did I think I proved I could be a good player in this league,” said Nemec.
The Flames’ New Jersey-based scout, Kerry Huffman, felt the same way, as did the rest of the eastern-based scouts who feel like Nemec is on the cusp of blossoming into the type of high-impact player he was pegged at when he was drafted.
A restricted free agent in need of a contract he wasn’t keen to sign in New Jersey, Nemec said he’s open to signing long-term with the Flames.
“For sure,” he said from his home in Slovakia.
“They gave up a lot for me, and I would like to stay as long as I can. It has been a pretty exciting night.”
Nemec helped Slovakia win bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the country’s first men’s hockey Olympic medal. He also helped Slovakia finish fourth at the 2026 Olympics.
“If I look at the group, it’s a good fit for me,” said Nemec, who played almost 20 minutes a night this season, in a second-pairing role behind Dougie Hamilton.
“I also know some guys from Calgary. (Conroy) told me to be in good shape for the big minutes, and that’s obviously what you want. I will be ready for that.”
When Conroy speaks of looking for age-appropriate players (21 to 23 years old) the team can grow with, he always points out they’re rarely available, making this a unique situation he pounced on.
“When his name became available, and after talking to our pro scouts and what we’re kind of trying to identify, it just felt like the right thing,” he said, pointing out he’s been focused on adding centres and defencemen.
“When you can get a good young player that’s going to be with your team, we hope for the next 15 years, that’s what you’ve got to give up.”
For a player who was captain and named tourney MVP at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and set the tourney record for points by an 18-year-old defenceman at the 2022 world championships, his upside is very, very high.
“I think coming over, not speaking the language, it just took a little time,” said Conroy of the fact New Jersey placed Nemec in the minors for his first full year as a pro, as well as the bulk of his third season.
“But his game has really turned around, and at 22 he’s a guy that we felt we can grow with now. The new building is two years away and he’s really going to be hitting his stride hopefully the next couple years, and we think he’s going to be a big part of this moving forward.”
Tsyplakov won’t be, as he’s a 27-year-old depth forward with 12 goals over the last two seasons who has one year left on a deal worth $2.25 million.