Simon Nemec takes morning skate with New Jersey Devils, showing no signs of injury

The New Jersey Devils received a scare in August when Simon Nemec was injured during Olympic qualifiers. While playing alongside Tomas Tatar for Slovakia, Nemec ran hard into the boards and suffered a shoulder injury. He came back to New Jersey for more tests and missed the rest of the qualifiers. 

And then, silence. 

We never heard another word about Nemec’s injury. Devils fans feared the worst as often silence means said player is going to miss time. NHL teams are not known for transparency around injuries, and the Devils are often known as one of the worst. We understand why that transparency can impact perception, and most would rather just wait it out, but it can cause speculation. 

It was even harder when Devils fans learned that Luke Hughes was going to miss the first month of the season with his own shoulder injury. Luckily, the injury, which occured during offseason training, won’t send Hughes to surgery, but it’s not ideal to be without your two young stud defensemen for any period of time.

With Nemec returning, it answers a major question coming into training camp. It will be a much simpler replacement for Hughes knowing Nemec can handle some of his roles, like on the power play. With Dougie Hamilton returning from his own injury, Nemec can slot in on PP2 until Hughes is healthy. 

Players like Johnathan Kovacevic and Santeri Hatakka could take Luke Hughes' place until he returns. Brett Pesce has also played on his off hand in the past. If both Hughes and Nemec were out, the Devils would be behind the eight ball. This new defensive lineup needs to find time to build chemistry. On top of that, everyone is learning a new system under Sheldon Keefe.

We love good news, and Nemec's appearance on the ice is GREAT news.