Simon Nemec was spending the week helping his younger brother get ready for the NHL Draft.
But that all changed Tuesday afternoon, when the 22-year-old was acquired by the Flames in a six-piece, blockbuster deal with the New Jersey Devils.
“I was just cooking my dinner when I got the news,” Nemec said over WhatsApp from his home in Slovakia. “I was a little shocked, but in a positive way.”
That supper - like Nemec’s new beginnings in Calgary - probably tasted pretty fresh. Just four years after being selected No. 2 in the NHL Draft, the blueliner is eager to showcase his skills to the C of Red come the fall.
“I expected something (to) happen,” Nemec admitted. “I’m pretty excited to join Calgary, it’s a good young team.
“I think it can be a really good spot for me, so I’m really happy.”
Offensively, Nemec broke out in 2025-26. In 68 games with the Devils, the blueliner scored 11 goals (one off the team lead). And while offence isn’t the only part of the 6’1”, 190-pound defenceman’s game, he figures that over the course of the campaign, he got more comfortable in a two-way role.
“I would say the first 15 games, I didn’t score and I didn’t play that much,” he said. “After (former Flame) Dougie Hamilton got hurt, I got more ice-time.
“I just felt like I needed to shoot more, and I did and almost everything went in.”
All 155 of Nemec’s career NHL games have come in a Devils uniform, but with a cross-continent move on the horizon, he’s already been making inroads. He and Calgary defenceman Kevin Bahl played a handful of games together in New Jersey that Nemec describes as ‘pretty good,’ but he’s already been in contact with two countrymen about the prospect of suiting up together during the 2026-27 NHL season and beyond.
“We are really good friends,” Nemec said of Flames forward Martin Pospisil. “Also Sam Honzek. They were the first guys I texted that I am joining Calgary.
“I think all of us are really excited to play together.”
The trio have already teamed up on Slovak international squads, and like Pospisil and Honzek, Nemec carries plenty of national pride.
“I would say it’s a little different when you play for your country and you can make all of the Slovak fans proud,” said Nemec, who won bronze with Slovakia at the 2022 Olympics and helped the team finish fourth in Milan this past February. “The national team helped me, when I was 17, 18 I had played already in the World Championships.
“If I can, I always go to represent the Slovak national team.”
But now that the trade dust has settled, Nemec can focus on family once more. Younger brother Adam - a forward with the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves - is ranked No. 27 among North American skaters ahead of the NHL Draft in Buffalo.
“I’m really excited,” said the elder Nemec. “He was with me four years ago, so he saw all the process. I think it was a really good experience for him, I would say he’s more ready than I was.
“I’m really excited, and our family is really excited too.”
