CALGARY — Simon Nemec arrived in Calgary two weeks ago, found a place to live with his fiancée, and promptly began the next chapter of a hockey life he is determined not to spend much time looking backward on.
The former No. 2 overall pick has landed with the Flames carrying the kind of expectations that come with a significant summer acquisition, and the opportunity he believes he is ready for:
More ice. More responsibility. More chances to show why New Jersey selected him behind only one man — Juraj Slafkovsky — in 2022.
“I want to play in every situation,” Nemec said after his first skate at the Saddledome.
“Calgary can offer me that situation, and I’m really excited and happy.”
That last part is an important piece of the Nemec story in Calgary.
He isn’t obsessed with proving the Devils should have played him more, and he certainly doesn’t sound interested in rehashing his relationship with the coach he left behind.
“Sorry, I don’t want to talk about that,” he said when asked about his relationship with Sheldon Keefe.
“It wasn’t bad. We had a different vision, but it’s behind me, and I don’t want to open that up again.
“I don’t want to prove anyone wrong — that’s not my mindset. I just want to have fun and play hockey. My mindset is to be better every day and help the team.”
A healthy approach, indeed.
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Right or wrong, the reality is that he wasn’t used in Jersey as prominently as Dougie Hamilton or Luke Hughes, limiting his ice time and ability to play various roles.
How things ended in New Jersey remains pertinent to the discussion surrounding Nemec, as his unease with a situation that didn’t improve over three seasons there set the stage for the type of swap you don’t often see in the NHL.
He insists he didn’t ask for a trade, but after he spoke to Devils GM Sunny Mehta last spring about the possibility of re-signing as a restricted free agent, he felt they had an understanding that something had to change.
In Calgary, where a full-fledged rebuild is afoot, there will be no limits on ice time, as he’s already being pegged as a top-pairing partner for Kevin Bahl.
Not surprisingly, his early interactions with Flames coach Ryan Huska sound encouraging.
“I spoke with him a couple times this summer, and met him,” said the 22-year-old Slovak, who was acquired in the summer as part of a six-piece swap that sent the Devils two firsts and a second-round pick for Nemec and Maxim Tsyplakov.
“Our relationship looks really good now, and I hope it stays like this. He’s a really good person.”
The Flames didn’t make a significant investment in the young defenceman to tuck him away in a sheltered role. The excitement around Calgary is that Nemec finally gets the runway to demonstrate whether he can grow into the player his draft pedigree suggested he could become: a player for all moments. An age-appropriate cornerstone on a team essentially starting anew.
To prepare for increased minutes and responsibility, Nemec spent most of his summer back home in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia, where his training included plenty of time on a road bike, riding for extended periods through the mountainous region around his hometown. It was part of a summer conditioning program inspired partly by his strength and conditioning coach.
“My strength and conditioning coach is doing Ironmans, and he knows more than me, so I tried the last few years and it felt good,” said Nemec, inspired by another famous Slovak defenceman, Zdeno Chara.
“I know (Chara) did it, but he didn’t tell me to do it. It was part of his summer in his prime.”
Nemec won’t be doing much cycling in Calgary just yet, although he says he has indeed spotted a few cycling routes he wouldn’t mind exploring down the road.
“Now I’m focusing more on hockey,” said Nemec, who signed a five-year, $36.25 million contract with the Flames shortly after the trade.
After celebrating the life-altering pact with a family dinner, his focus has been on the opportunity ahead in a town where he can lean on fellow countrymen Samuel Honzek and Martin Pospisil to show him around.
His definition of a good season is remarkably straightforward.
“Play better hockey, and feel better on the ice,” said the six-foot-one, 190-pound righty, who had 11 goals and 26 points in 68 games last season while averaging under 20 minutes a night.
“It’s more about the consistency to play my best hockey every game. I know it won’t be my best every game, but be close to that.”
Earlier this month, he hit the Saddledome ice, met the bulk of his new teammates, and is excited for everything ahead, including Scotia Place, set to open next year.
“It looks nice, so I'm really excited about that,” said Nemec of the new rink.
“I think it’s going to be one of the best in the league.”
Flames fans will soon see if the same can be said about the blue liner with so many expectations.
