Šimon Nemec (born 15 February 2004) is a Slovak professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

for the

Utica Comets The Utica Comets are a professional ice hockey team based in Utica, New York, with home games at the Adirondack Bank Center. They are members of the North Division in the Eastern Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL) and affiliated wit ...

in the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

(AHL) as a prospect to the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL). He was drafted second overall by the Devils in the

2022 NHL Entry Draft The 2022 NHL Entry Draft was the 60th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on July 7–8, 2022, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Montreal were originally scheduled to host the 2020 draft but were unable to do so due to the COVID-19 pandem ...

, becoming the second of back-to-back Slovak selections. Competing internationally as part of Slovak national team, Nemec won a bronze medal at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

, which was the first Olympic medal for Slovakia in ice hockey. He is identified as part of a rising new generation of Slovak ice hockey players.

Playing career

HK Nitra

Nemec was born in

Liptovský Mikuláš Liptovský Mikuláš (; until 1952 ''Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš'', german: Liptau-Sankt-Nikolaus; hu, Liptószentmiklós) is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River, about from Bratislava. It lies in the Liptov region, in Liptov Bas ...

, Slovakia, and played youth hockey for the local club,

MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš MHk 32 Liptovský Mikuláš is a professional ice hockey team in the Slovak Extraliga, top hockey tier in Slovakia. Their home town is Liptovský Mikuláš in Slovakia. The team plays their home games at Liptovský Mikuláš Ice Stadium. Histor ...

. Nemec began playing at the highest level in Slovakian hockey,

Tipos Extraliga The Tipos Extraliga (Slovak Extraliga) is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From the 2018–19 season to the 2020–21 season, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. In 2009, it was ranked by the IIHF as the fifth stro ...

, starting in the 2019–20 season at the age of 15 with

HK Nitra Hokejový Klub Nitra is a professional ice hockey club based in Nitra, Slovakia. The club has been a member of the Slovak Extraliga since the 2003–04 season and winner of Slovak Extraliga in the 2015–16 season. History The club was founded ...

. In his 2019–20 season, he split his time between Tipos Extraliga, Slovak 2. Liga and Slovakia U20 team. After the conclusion of the season, in league play, he solely played in Tipos Extraliga. Nemec's

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

(CHL) rights are owned by the

Cape Breton Eagles The Cape Breton Eagles are a major junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Their home rink is Centre 200 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. History The franchise was originally granted to the Sorel Éperviers (B ...

of the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

(QMJHL). He was selected fourth overall by Cape Breton in the 2021 CHL Import Draft; however, Nemec preferred to play his draft year season in Slovakia. Going into his draft year, Nemec improved his game and recorded one goal and 25 assists for 26 points in 39 games for HK Nitra in the

2021–22 Slovak Extraliga season The 2021–22 Slovak Extraliga season was the 29th season of the Slovak Extraliga, the highest ice hockey league in Slovakia. Team changes The newly established hockey club HC 21 Prešov replaced HC 07 Detva in Tipos extraliga from this season as ...

. In the playoffs, he recorded five goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 19 games, taking his team to the finals, where HK Nitra lost in six games to

HC Slovan Bratislava Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava ( sk, Hokejový klub Slovan Bratislava) is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, it left the Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 2019, i ...

New Jersey Devils

2022 NHL Entry Draft

Following the 2021–22 Slovak Extraliga season, Nemec was seen as one of the top defensive prospects heading into the

and debated alongside Czech David Jiříček as the defenceman to be taken first. Throughout the year, multiple scouts considered him a top five selection. On 7 July 2022, he was selected second overall by the

, after fellow countryman

Juraj Slafkovský Juraj Slafkovský (born 30 March 2004) is a Slovak professional ice hockey forward for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected first overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Canadiens, the highest-drafted ...

was selected first overall by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, thus becoming the two highest drafted Slovak-born players in the

NHL Entry Draft The NHL Entry Draft (french: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirem ...

history. It was only the second time in history that a single European nation had the top two selections in the draft, after Russia in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. On 14 July, Nemec signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Devils.

International play

Nemec participated as part of Team Slovakia in the 2021 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, leading Slovakia in scoring with four points and being named one of his team's top three players. He then made his senior IIHF international debut as part of the national senior team at the

2021 IIHF World Championship The 2021 IIHF World Championship () took place from 21 May to 6 June 2021. It was originally to be co-hosted by Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, as the IIHF announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. Their joint bid won by a very tight margin ...

. Later in 2021 he served as Slovakia U18 team's captain at the 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, leading the team to a silver medal. He was voted

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the tournament, scoring one goal and five assists for six points in five games. After participating in the aborted

2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were the 46th edition of the IIHF World Junior Championship, played from August 9–20, 2022 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held from Dece ...

, cancelled as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Nemec was named to the Slovak squad for the

. He was one of three teenagers on the team, alongside fellow defenceman Samuel Kňažko and forward

. He finished the tournament with an assist in seven games as Slovakia won the bronze medal game against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, their first-ever Olympic medal in ice hockey. In his second outing of the year with the senior team at the

2022 IIHF World Championship The 2022 IIHF World Championship was hosted by Finland from 13 to 29 May 2022, as the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced on 19 May 2017 in Cologne, Germany. The host cities of the World Championships were Tampere and Helsinki, ...

, Nemec lead all Slovak defencemen in scoring with one goal and five assists in eight games.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nemec, Šimon 2004 births Living people HK Levice players HK Nitra players Ice hockey players at the 2022 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Olympics National Hockey League first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils draft picks Olympic bronze medalists for Slovakia Olympic ice hockey players of Slovakia Olympic medalists in ice hockey Slovak ice hockey defencemen Sportspeople from Liptovský Mikuláš Utica Comets players