Craig Conroy took the biggest swing of his burgeoning career as general manager of the Calgary Flames on Tuesday afternoon in a deal that brought in beleaguered 22-year-old defenceman Simon Nemec from the New Jersey Devils.
Here is the deal in full:
To Calgary:
D Simon Nemec
LW/RW Maxim Tsyplakov
To New Jersey:
Conditional 2027 first-round pick (VGK)
Conditional 2028 first-round pick (COL)
2026 second-round pick (NYR)
D Etienne Morin
The second overall selection at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Nemec has been on a bit of a roller coaster in his four-season North American pro career.
Start with the Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia product’s first season within the Devils organization in 2022-23. At just 19 years old, Nemec put in a full year in Utica of the AHL. 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points in 65 games had his production proving that the six-foot-one right-handed blue liner was the real deal.
At 20 years old, Nemec started the following season in Utica of the AHL, posting a respectable two goals and six assists for eight points in 13 games before Dougie Hamilton got injured, providing a vacancy on the Devils’ right side of their top-four.
Nemec played 60 games with he Devils that year, putting up three goals and 16 assist for 19 points. The smooth-skating offensive defenceman logged almost 20 minutes a night (19:52) and played about one and a half power play shifts (1:17) per game on New Jersey’s second unit logging just two assists.
One notable sign of progress was Nemec’s seven points in eight World Championship games following that season. The year prior, he had zero points in five games.
Do you remember how you read that Dougie Hamilton got injured and a spot opened up for Nemec? It turns out that Dougie wanted his spot back after he recovered from getting surgery on his torn pectoral muscle.
Nemec found his way onto the Devils in a largely diminished role in 2024-25, playing just 14:59 primarily on the third pairing. Luke Hughes and Hamilton played the majority of the power play time and Nemec finished the season with only two goals and two assists for four points in 27 games.
One contributor to that low production was a lack of chemistry with any given defence partner. Defensive defenceman Brenden Dillon played by far the most 5v5 time with Nemec that season at 159:06 and the two posted poor results. 3-to-8 in goals for and against and an only slightly better 47.9% expected goals percentage.
Tryouts with the big two went even worse. The pairing of Hughes and Nemec were outshot 28-44 at 5v5 and Hamilton-Nemec were outshot 12-18 in their 13:24 sample.
The following season—last season—was more of the same. Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe had Nemec out with Brenden Dillon for the majority of shifts with brutal results. The two were outscored 19-28 at 5v5 and posted a mediocre 49.9% expected goals percentage over 550:54 of time on ice together.
Despite a lack of chemistry with his defence partners, Nemec finished second among defencemen in goals with 11; trailing Dougie’s 12 by one. He finished 11th on the team in both assists (15) and points (26).
It is also worth noting that most of those goals were due to an early season hot streak. Nemec found himself tied (with Rasmus Andersson) for fifth in goals among defencemen by Dec. 6, 2025—the next 52 games saw the Slovak blue liner score only four.
Three aspects to consider from all of this:
1.) Nemec wasn’t a fit on the New Jersey Devils
Simon was the odd man out when it came to power play time and offensive deployment. When all three are healthy, Keefe has to decide between Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes, or Simon Nemec. All three are great options, but only one can sit atop an umbrella with the game on the line.
The same goes for cap space. Hamilton and Hughes both carry $9,000,000 cap hits. Nemec is an RFA and asking for over seven million. All three aren’t puck retrieval specialists. That all adds up to Simon Nemec being better off finding a new team.
2.) Nemec still needs that “Goldilocks” defence partner
Maybe it’s the six-foot-six Kevin Bahl, who posted a 53% expected goals percentage on a pairing with Nemec over 195:06 of 5v5 ice time in 2023-24.
Maybe the upstart Yan Kuznetsov, who skates like the wind and is also a bigger defenceman at six-foot-three and 238 pounds.
It could even be the Calgary’s resident offensive wizard Zayne Parekh, who is clearly still waiting for someone to match his eclectic jazz-like approach to making plays. It’s worth noting that Parekh moved to the left side at the end of last season and played most of his OHL days on that side.
3.) Nemec has work to do on his own game
Stability and role are key. Flames fans may remember Sam Bennett, who simply couldn’t find a lasting place in Calgary’s top-six. The same Sam Bennett that won the Conn Smythe Trophy with the Florida Panthers in 2025.
Nemec comes to Calgary in a similar situation. The talent is there, but after three awkward seasons, a fresh start that includes high-end deployment might be just what the doctor ordered.
On the other hand, Nemec’s defensive game is, by his own admission, a work in progress.
“Oh, probably in the defensive zone.” Nemec answered when asked by Pat Steinberg on the Fan 960 on Tuesday about what areas of his game he wanted to improve. “And just be a better all-around player.”
He wasn’t over-exaggerating. Nemec’s metrics are rough in his own zone.
Those retrieval stats are brutal, but his controlled zone entry numbers will be an oasis on a Flames team dying for controlled offensive zone entries. Due to the roster’s sheer lack of speed, the Flames have been forced to dump and chase for much of the past three seasons. The choice was either lose the puck through the neutral zone or go for the coin flip below the goal line.
Maxim Tsyplakov
The other player involved in the deal, Maxim Tsyplakov’s presence is more due to his cap hit; one more season at a $2,250,000 annual average salary.
Over 49 games last season, the 27 year old winger put up two goals and two assists for four points to go along with a -17 plus/minus rating.
Is there room for improvement? Certainly. Tsyplakov posted ten goals and 25 assists for 35 points in the season prior over 77 games with the New York Islanders. At six-foot-three and 203 pounds, the big Russian may provide some depth on the wing in the bottom six. The Flames may even be able to get a late round pick at the 2027 NHL Trade Deadline for him should he re-discover his offence.
That or the organization has found their replacement for Martin Frk on the Wranglers, which is not such a bad thing.
Looking Ahead
Time will tell whether the Craig Conroy and the Flames come to regret the Simon Nemec acquisition. First round picks don’t grow on trees—nor do 22-year-olds drafted second overall.
Nemec certainly carries value. Aggressive breakout ability and zone entries. High-end offensive potential.
Given what we’ve seen Flames head coach Ryan Huska do when it comes to turning questionable defenders into stat-positive blue liners—Kevin Bahl, Yan Kuznetsov, and Hunter Brzustewicz more recently as well as Rasmus Andersson, TJ Brodie, Oliver Kylington coming to mind in days past when Huska was an assistant coach—there is a solid chance that Simon Nemec develops into a reliable NHL defenceman.
Statistics courtesy of Puckpedia, Elite Prospects, NaturalStatTrick and the National Hockey League.
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