The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils season may officially be over, but the team's long-standing battle with a rash of injuries is, unfortunately, not.
Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic said Thursday he will require knee surgery to correct an injury sustained in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes and doesn't currently anticipate being ready for the start of the 2025-26 season.
So the Devils are more than likely down one defenseman to start next season, and the jury is still out on pending RFA Luke Hughes, who did not speak during exit interviews Thursday and whose injury status is still unknown.
What does this mean for the Devils going forward? Well, it means head coach Sheldon Keefe and Co. will be falling back on some ideas they've already used. That means inserting former No. 2 overall pick Simon Nemec back into the lineup and throwing him to the wolves once more.
Simon Nemec set to receive a big opportunity with the Devils
Simon Nemec started the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs on the bench and ended them as arguably the Devils' most impressive defenseman. At both ends of the ice.
Keefe entrusted Nemec with a spot in the lineup in Game 2, and the 21-year-old never looked back. After a so-so first game in which he took a penalty and played only 14:12, Nemec rose to the occasion in Game 3, ripping off five shots on goal and scoring a dramatic overtime winner to nab his first postseason point as a Devil.
With this goal, Nemec, at 21 years and 69 days, became the second-youngest defenseman to ever score an overtime goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs, per NHL PR, trailing Andrei Zyuzin (20 years, 97 days, 1998) by less than a month.
Nemec said after this game he felt his "confidence is back," which is key for a young player like him, especially when facing the lofty draft expectations. His returned confidence was tangible, and it reflected in the stats, too.
In Game 5, Nemec earned a crucial primary assist on Stefan Noesen's first-period goal to put New Jersey up 3-0 and played 27:57, a Devils career-high.
We have no chance in this series, and we’d be swept and gone with the injuries we had on defense if [Nemec] doesn’t step up the way that he did," Keefe had said after the Game 5 double-overtime loss. And he's right.
Overall, Nemec finished his first playoff rodeo with a goal and an assist in four games, a +3 plus-minus rating, and six shots on goal while averaging 20:40 of ice time.
Despite being the youngest player on either team's roster and the Hurricanes heavily out-shooting the Devils in all situations, Nemec led all Devils defensemen (minimum 60 minutes of ice time) in 5-on-5 Corsi percentage at 44.78%, per Natural Stat Trick.
Additionally, the Devils out-scored the Hurricanes 3-0 with Nemec on the ice at 5-on-5, and that's with Nemec starting his shift in the offensive zone just five times.
For reference, Jonas Siegenthaler, who played only four more minutes than Nemec at 5-on-5 in the series, had 14 offensive zone starts, and he's not a guy known for his offense.
An offseason injury and a coaching change had Nemec start the 2024-25 season on the wrong foot, but suddenly, opportunity is knocking on his door.
The Slovak has ended his tumultuous sophomore season playing some of the best hockey of his career and now finds himself with another opportunity to force himself into the lineup in the wake of Kovacevic's knee injury.
Nemec and Kovacevic were in direct competition for a roster spot last training camp, too, so whatever happens next is up to Nemec. The 2022 No. 2 overall pick will be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season.