The Ottawa Senators have been hot for the past six games with having a 5-0-1 record. This past weekend, the Senators earned two big back-to-back wins against the Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils.
However, the Senators have been battling injuries this season. Travis Hamonic, Jacob Bernard-Docker, David Perron, Linus Ullmark and Michael Amadio have missed time this season, but the Senators are still currently winning at the moment.
As the trade deadline is drawing closer, rumors will be flying around on what players teams are interested in. The Senators will be eager to make a move to make the team stronger. There's one young defenseman on the Devils who the Senators appear to be linked to.
Senators linked to Devils' Simon Nemec
According to Bill Scott of NHL Trade Rumor, he wrote this past Thursday that the Senators are linked to defenseman Simon Nemec of the Devils. The Slovakian defenseman was the former second overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Nemec will turn 21 years old on Feb. 15. According to PuckPedia, Nemec will have one year left on his contract at $918,333 and will be a restricted free agent.
Since being drafted, Nemec has had some struggles. Last season as a rookie, Nemec played in 60 games and recorded 19 points with a -7 rating. Nemec was more known for his defense as he recorded 105 blocked shots and 22 hits in under 20 minutes of ice time per game.
However, this season has been a deep struggle. Nemec has only played in nine games and has recorded just one assist with 10 blocked shots. Nemec has not played an NHL game this season since Oct. 22.
Potential is still there for Nemec, but he hasn't had a case to show it this season, and it puts the Devils in a tough position of what to do with the young defenseman. The Senators can use a right-handed defenseman like Nemec. The Senators recently lost out on right-hand defenseman John Klingberg this past Friday, so another chance may arrive for the Senators to acquire a right-handed defenseman in Nemec.
Because of his young age, the Devils still might have a high value for Nemec. With the position the Senators are in, if the value for Nemec is too high, the Senators can try and find another defenseman who wouldn't have too high of value. For a player who hasn't played since October, it could be best for the Senators to stay away from Nemec.
If the Senators were to acquire Nemec, the Senators would have both Nemec and Jake Sanderson at a very young age. Nemec could also be influenced by Thomas Chabot and work with Artem Zub to improve his defense better.