The 2022 NHL Entry Draft class boasted a uniquely large number of impactful right-shot defenders in their ranks coming into the season. You know, the most sought-after, coveted type of player in the sport. And Šimon Nemec was the best of the bunch.

The 6-foot-1, 192-pound defender has already built a fairly impressive résumé. Nemec has patrolled HK Nitra's blue line in the Tipos Extraliga for two years now. This, after splitting time between the men's club and second division group as a 15-year-old. He more than held his own too, as evidenced by his lead in U23 scoring in the league as a 16-year-old- in the 2020-21 season.

The landscape may be shifting as the season plays out, but Nemec's primacy in this group has remained constant.

Since returning from the Covid-shortened World Junior Championships, Nemec has been on a tear. He's picked up nine points over his last seven contests, eight of which have been primary. That burst has bumped his season-long total to 19 points in 28 games, just two points shy of Ľubomír Višňovský’s all-time U20 mark for a defenceman in the Tipos Extraliga. 

With a power-play helper today, Simon Nemec has 6 points in his last 5 Slovak league games.

He's up to 17 points in 26 games - tops among all U23 defenders and top-10 among all backs.

He's 17. And right-handed. He's going early.

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) January 14, 2022

Without further adieu, let’s pull back the curtain and shed light upon what makes Nemec tick.