One of the primary storylines to come out of the NHL Trade Deadline last week was Tom Fitzgerald not pulling the trigger on any trades. Fitzgerald was reportedly shopping every defenseman on the roster not named Luke Hughes or Brett Pesce, but he ultimately decided to hold on to all of the Devils blueliners.<\/p>\n
That list of blueliners the Devils opted to hold on to includes the former 2nd overall pick Simon Nemec.<\/p>\n
By now, you know what the situation is with Nemec. Nemec is finishing up his ELC this season and is due a new contract over the summer. Nemec recently switched agents. Nemec has a history of<\/a> voicing his displeasure about his placement and usage on the Devils roster. According to Pierre LeBrun, Nemec reportedly is looking for a deal similar to the one Luke Hughes signed despite having less than half the counting stats and worse advanced stats. Nemec spent most of last season in Utica and has been a healthy scratch at times this season.<\/p>\n The Devils created a logjam at the NHL level at RHD when they traded for Johnathan Kovacevic from the Canadiens. Kovacevic beat out Nemec for the third pairing job in training camp last season. The Devils rewarded Kovacevic with a five year contract extension shortly before the trade deadline last year. With Brett Pesce and Dougie Hamilton already signed long-term, somebody had to be the odd man out. Except nobody was.<\/p>\n The Devils, in the aftermath of the Jack Hughes injury in the week leading up to the trade deadline last season, opted to hold on to their defensemen. With Kovacevic suffering a significant lower-body injury in the postseason, the Devils opted to hold on to their defensemen over the summer. Kovacevic is now back, and while he hasn\u2019t played well since returning, he is playing.<\/p>\n Knowing that continuing to keep seven NHL defensemen on the roster is no longer sustainable<\/a>, Fitzgerald has limited options when it comes to moving defensemen. He\u2019s not moving Pesce or Hughes. If you believe what he said last week, he\u2019s not shopping Hamilton<\/a>. Maybe that changes this summer once his bonus is paid out and the actual dollars remaining on his deal are $6.25M over the final two years, but with a 10-team trade list, you still have to find a willing partner with the cap space to take him on. Kovacevic has a full NTC through next season and is playing poorly. Brenden Dillon\u2019s NTC becomes a 10-team no-trade list on July 1. Jonas Siegenthaler already has a 10-team no-trade list. Fitzgerald, who handed out all of these contracts and no-trade clauses like Halloween candy, doesn\u2019t have a lot of options to turn to. Except for one.<\/p>\n He could trade Simon Nemec, who is due for a new contract, doesn\u2019t have trade protection, and doesn\u2019t have arbitration rights. This might wind up being THE move, especially if he anticipates another grind of a contract negotiation over the summer.<\/p>\n But should he trade Nemec?<\/p>\n The Argument For Trading Nemec<\/p>\n I\u2019m not necessarily advocating for trading away Nemec, but I think its important to consider both sides of the argument here.<\/p>\n What we heard in the leadup to the deadline was that the Devils were hoping to acquire a \u201cyoung, impact\u201d top-six forward. Pierre LeBrun went as far as to say they\u2019ll only do it if they get a \u201c1st-line type forward, specifically a center<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n That line alone is interesting, but not surprising. Center is a premium position. Wingers are not. Nico Hischier is entering a contract year. His status with the Devils beyond next season is uncertain<\/a>. Jack Hughes has been injured far too often. He\u2019s also coming off of an Olympic tournament where he had success playing on the wing. Getting another top six center would be incredibly proactive just in case Hischier decides to leave, but it also gives the Devils more options whether or not Hischier stays and whether or not Jack Hughes suffers another injury. It\u2019s a better plan than \u201cjust move Dawson Mercer to center\u201d. And worst case scenario, the Devils are now Colorado or Florida levels of deep down the middle. That\u2019s not a bad thing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to find difference-making centers and the Devils really only have two assets to try to find one if they so choose. They could use their first round pick this year on one if they like the prospect enough. Or they could try to trade Simon Nemec for one.<\/p>\n The problem with trading Nemec for that type of player is that teams that have that type of player are going to keep them for themselves. They\u2019re going to build around young-impact top-six forwards. They\u2019re especially going to keep those players if they can play center. The Devils aren\u2019t going to be able to flip Nemec for Macklin Celebrini, or Leo Carlsson, or Adam Fantilli, or Logan Cooley. They\u2019re also not going to flip Nemec to get a player like Beckett Sennecke or whatever young winger you have on your wishlist. These teams are also right to think that and to want to hold on to those types of players<\/p>\n If they\u2019re going to trade Nemec for that type of forward, it probably has to be a player in a similar situation to Nemec where they\u2019re frustrated with their situation, there\u2019s some flaws with the player, the team is in a precarious position and might be desperate for assets, and\/or you\u2019re betting a chance of scenery will get the most out of the player you\u2019re acquiring.<\/p>\n So what are your options realistically?<\/p>\n Jordan Kyrou is a name that has been out there for trade. He\u2019s listed as a center but he\u2019s really more of a scoring winger. He\u2019s having a down year, but that could be a byproduct of the Blues being a dreadful team. He\u2019s also going to be 28 on Opening Night. I wouldn\u2019t consider him to be \u2018young\u2019 by NHL standards. That\u2019s not to say I wouldn\u2019t want to trade for Kyrou, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019m making Simon Nemec the centerpiece of that type of deal if I do choose to go down that road. I\u2019d be looking to trade picks or other assets to do that.<\/p>\n Elliotte Friedman speculated recently<\/a> on his 32 Thoughts podcast that a Simon Nemec for Matthew Knies deal could make sense. Knies will be 24 in October, and he would add much needed size and physicality to the Devils Top Six. He\u2019s not a center, and he is signed through 2031 at $7.75M AAV. Granted, I\u2019m not sure why Toronto would move Knies, but the Leafs lack assets of their own and its just as hard to find good young RHD as it is centers.<\/p>\n Other than that though, I\u2019m not sure where you\u2019re going for that type of player. Maybe the Flyers want out of the Matvei Michkov business given his usage this season but I don\u2019t see the two division rivals connecting on a trade of that magnitude. Maybe the Kraken want to move on from Shane Wright but I don\u2019t know if he\u2019ll become that type of player you\u2019d be hoping to get. I will say that I wouldn\u2019t trade Nemec just to trade him, and I wouldn\u2019t trade him for futures because I don\u2019t think that does anything for the Devils.<\/p>\n Nemec might not be as valuable as he was four years ago when he went #2 overall. Frankly, if he played better, we probably wouldn\u2019t be having the conversation at all because keeping Nemec would be a no-brainer. But this isn\u2019t the Alex Holtz situation either where he can\u2019t crack the lineup and the Devils sold Holtz for 30 cents on the dollar before it became apparent he couldn\u2019t play. Nemec is playing nearly 20 minutes a night. He\u2019s still a young right-handed defensemen, which is another premium position. If there\u2019s any doubt how valuable RHD are, go look at the returns bad ones like Tyler Myers<\/a> fetched at the deadline. Aside from the 2026 first round pick, the Devils most valuable trade chip among their prospects is probably Simon Nemec.<\/p>\n If they could turn him into that type of difference-making, top-six player, I\u2019m certainly open to suggestions. But I don\u2019t think they can, nor do I trust Tom Fitzgerald to swing that sort of deal.<\/p>\n The Argument For Keeping Nemec<\/p>\n Good, young, right-handed defensemen are incredibly difficult to find. And simply put, the Devils shouldn\u2019t be in the business of giving one away.<\/p>\n Obviously, Nemec has had his struggles this year. That\u2019s to be expected as he\u2019s still on his ELC and isn\u2019t close to 200 NHL games played yet. But he has also shown flashes of brilliance this year. He probably has the best shot on the team among defensemen, a list that includes Dougie Hamilton. He has shown a clutch gene, which isn\u2019t nothing. He\u2019s the rare type where he seems to play better the more minutes he gets as opposed to being sheltered. He had a strong Olympic tournament playing in a best-on-best format.<\/p>\n The Devils do have to consider the future of their blueline though. Hamilton is 32 years old. Pesce is 31. Kovacevic is 28. The Devils don\u2019t really have another RHD in the organization with the upside that Nemec has, and I\u2019m including Seamus Casey in the conversation when I say that. With all due respect, Casey isn\u2019t Nemec. Guys like Viktor Hurtig, Charlie Leddy, Mikael Diotte, Sigge Holmgren, and Artem Barabosha are fine depth pieces to have in the organization but there\u2019s a long way to go before we ever see any of those guys in the NHL, if we ever see them at all.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say the Devils don\u2019t wind up addressing the RHD position in a significant manner at this year\u2019s draft. We don\u2019t know what they\u2019ll do when they\u2019re on the clock, whenever they\u2019ll pick. But just because they address the position in the draft doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re going to move on from Nemec.<\/p>\n What Should the Devils Do?<\/p>\n I can say with certainty that if I were in charge, the first thing I\u2019m doing is I\u2019m not letting Tom Fitzgerald make this decision. He and the rest of the Devils braintrust can go on their merry way as far as I\u2019m concerned.<\/p>\n That said, if it were up to me, I\u2019m not moving Simon Nemec. For a few reasons.<\/p>\n One, I don\u2019t think the Devils can get the type of player they\u2019re thinking (or more realistically, hoping) they can get by dangling Nemec on the open market. I think the best they could do is the 2024 David Jiricek trade<\/a>\u2026..no, not the one from last week for Bobby Brink. The one with all of the draft picks. And I\u2019m not really interested in a futures-heavy return like that, even knowing that picks are ammunition for potential future trades. That trade isn\u2019t making the 2026-27 Devils any better than the 2025-26 team.<\/p>\n