After an eye-opening performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec is already working on the ice in hopes of starting the 2025-26 season where he left off.
Nemec, 21, stepped in for the Devils in the wake of injuries to key players like Luke Hughes, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brenden Dillon, scoring two points in four games and adding a +3 rating. In only his second career playoff game, Nemec scored the game-winning goal for the Devils in Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes, earning rave reviews from head coach Sheldon Keefe.
And those words will go a long way for a young defenseman who spent most of the 2024-25 season in Keefe's doghouse.
"It was influenced by the fact that I went to the world championships regularly and I started summer preparation later. I wanted to change it and try it. The trend is already elsewhere. Hockey is a year-round sport, which is why I started on ice earlier. I feel very good,“ Nemec said of his routine change in a recent interview with Dennik Sport.
"I haven't started years in the last three, four years. It was never the way I finished the season. In the end, I had the best form. I would like to start where I ended up. That is the goal.“
This past season, in particular, was a bit of a different story, as Nemec played for Slovakia in the Olympic qualifiers and suffered a shoulder injury that held him back all year.
With a full summer of gym work, training, and overall rest and recovery, the Devils' former No. 2 overall pick is looking to put that all behind him.
"We also communicated it with the leadership of the New Jersey Devils that it is better for me to rest this time. I need a good summer. I am especially bothered by my shoulder, it has been pulled since the Olympic qualification, where I was injured in a match against Hungary," added Nemec. "I didn't have time to strengthen it enough, because you're already getting into game rhythm in the season and you don't have time to deal with that. I want to use summer in particular for that. We decided it would be better like this and I would miss the World Championship this time."
With defenseman Johnny Kovacevic not expected to be ready to play for the Devils at the start of next season, there will be a huge opportunity for Nemec to prove he's a real part of New Jersey's future on the blueline.
A repeat of this year's playoff performance should do just fine, but it's up to Nemec to now show that that consistency over a full season.