Key Devils defenseman injured in Olympic qualifier game

The New Jersey Devils will be waiting on bated breath over the next 48 hours to get a clearer picture of the injury sustained by defenseman Simon Nemec in the Olympic qualifier event earlier Friday between Slovakia and Hungary. Beat reporter James Nichols quickly reported that the prognosis was good as Team Slovakia’s doctor does not believe anything is broken or dislocated but more tests will be run Saturday.

It does not appear that Nemec will be out long term without a break or dislocation so he should still be in line to start the year on time with New Jersey. The play in question took place in the back half of the second period with Nemec colliding into the corner boards with a player from Team Hungary which precluded him from participating in the rest of Friday’s action. Team Slovakia went on to win the game by a score of 7-3 and will take on Team Kazakhstan to advance.

The young Slovakian defenseman is on the eve of starting his sophomore campaign at the NHL on the heels of a solid rookie season. Nemec played in 60 games for the Devils last year and put up three goals and 19 points overall. He wasn’t a game-changer on the back end, nor a liability — which is more than many 19-year-olds can say about their first taste of NHL action. New Jersey will be hoping for more on both sides of the puck but it is already apparent they trust him as he finished fourth on the team in average ice time in 5-on-5 play.

The Devils may be able to gear down Nemec’s responsibilities for the 2024-25 season after a few key free-agent additions on the back end. The organization could slot Nemec into a more comfortable role on the bottom-pairing next to Brenden Dillon to give him more room to grow.

New Jersey can’t afford to lose as many defensemen as they did last year to injury; this news is a major avoidance of that. Luke Hughes was the only defenseman on the roster last season available to play in all 82 games and the man-games lost to injury had a major part in their 31-point drop in the standings year-on-year.