Stars’ perfect trade offer for Devils’ Simon Nemec

Dallas has been desperate to find the exact type of puck-moving, right-shot defenseman that Simon Nemec has become to play with Harley on the second pairing. The 22-year-old blueliner posted 11 goals and 26 points in 68 games in 2025-26, setting new career highs in both categories while averaging 19:40 of ice time per game.

His underlying numbers indicate a player who runs a power play, makes a confident first pass, and uses his speed and skating to create offense from the back end. At 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, he’s already developed into a full-time NHL player, and the ceiling ahead of him is undoubtedly star-caliber.

The trade rumors surrounding Nemec have been swirling for weeks. The Devils missed the 2026 playoffs with a 42-37-3 record and are under new management with GM Sunny Mehta, who is clearly in asset-evaluation mode. New Jersey’s front office has been open about its desire to acquire a top-six forward, and Nemec, the most tradable piece on the roster, is their best chip to make that happen. While Nemec has said he would love to re-sign in New Jersey, contract negotiations take two sides, and if a deal isn’t done quickly, the Stars should be knocking loudly.

The perfect trade offer

Dallas has to sweeten the pot to pull off this blockbuster, and the value is absolutely there to do it. Here is the two-for-one deal that makes sense for both clubs:

Dallas Stars receive:

• Simon Nemec, D

New Jersey Devils receive:

• Emil Hemming, RW
• 2027 first-round pick

This return package gives Mehta two high-value assets that align perfectly with New Jersey’s most pressing needs. Hemming, 19, is the Stars’ No. 1 forward prospect, a first-round pick (29th overall, 2024) who erupted for 26 goals and 37 assists in 46 OHL regular-season games with the Barrie Colts in 2025-26 after a brief AHL stint to open the year.

His physical tools are exceptional: a big, powerful winger with elite skating and an NHL-caliber shot who starred at the World Junior Championship as a goal-per-game player. For a Devils team that needs immediate and future help on the right wing, Hemming is a dream acquisition.

Pairing Hemming with a first-round pick makes this offer impossible to ignore. Dallas currently projects to hold their own 2027 first, and given the Stars’ Stanley Cup window, that pick could fall in the 15-25 range, still premium capital for a rebuilding New Jersey franchise. The Devils get a high-end winger prospect and a lottery-adjacent pick, while simultaneously clearing Nemec’s looming contract demand off the books.

For Dallas, Nemec immediately slots in as Harley’s top partner, forming one of the most exciting second-pairing tandems in the Western Conference for the next decade. The Stars’ window is now, and adding a 22-year-old offensive defenseman at the peak of his trajectory is the kind of bold move that separates contenders from pretenders. For New Jersey, the deal restocks the cupboard with proven upside without mortgaging the future entirely, and Hemming gives Mehta exactly the dynamic right winger he needs.