A devilishly good Slovak. You won’t find one like that on a tree, say Devils – Pravda

Slovak hockey defenseman Šimon Nemec has spent two days in the development camp of the New Jersey Devils club from the overseas NHL, which selected him last week in the second place in the rookie draft. The highest drafted defenseman this year and in Slovak history believes that he will establish himself in North America next season. According to him, working in the lower American Hockey League, where the “devils” have a reserve team, the Utica Comets, would help him the most. “I want to try to play in North America, maybe in the AHL or even in the NHL for the Devils, you never know. I played two full seasons among men in Slovakia. I think it would be better for me in the AHL,” the German told the official website of the profiliga. The reigning vice-champion of the Slovak extra league with HK Nitra surpassed the record of Branislav Mezei and Boris Valábik, who were the highest drafted Slovak defenders before him. Mezeia was selected from the 10th position by the New York Islanders in 1999, Valábik received the same honor in 2004 from the Atlanta Thrashers. Read More Appalling: Outraged Wright likes Slafkowski haters on Instagram ‘I’m really excited to be here. I think the Devils are a really good organization for me and the people here are very friendly. I think I didn’t do too well on the ice on Tuesday, because it was only the second time I was on it this month. But you will see that I will be better in the coming days,” the 18-year-old native of Liptovský Mikuláš evaluated his time in the Devils development camp. Some scouts compare the German to Swiss defenseman Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators. In New Jersey, they are happy that they decided to use their first pick in the draft on the young Slovak. “Right-handed defenders don’t grow on trees, and everyone knows that. He was one of the most watched players in this year’s draft and our organization is excited about him. Now we are trying to integrate him and other drafted youngsters into our system and help them in their individual development so that in the next years, they could get to the top and become the players in the NHL that they want to be. It’s an exciting time and we’re glad that Šimon is here with us this week,” said Meghan Dugganová, director of player development at the “Devils”, about Nemc. The German set a junior extraleague record in the 2021/2022 season with 26 points in 37 games of the regular season, only forwards Marián Hossa and Gáborík collected more points than juniors. He also became the all-time most productive junior in the playoffs with 17 points (5+12) in 19 games. At the Olympic Games in Beijing, he helped Slovakia to bronze medals with one assist in seven matches, at the World Cup in Finland he scored a goal and five assists in eight duels. He was also the most valuable player of the other Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where, as captain, he led the Slovakian under-18 national team to win silver with 6 points (1+5) in 6 matches.