The 18-year-old defenseman was the No. 2 pick in the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft. He played the past three seasons with Nitra in Tipos Extraliga, the top professional men's league in Slovakia, and for Slovakia at the 2022 IIHF World Championship and at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
"I want to try and play in North America, maybe the American Hockey League in Utica] or, you never know, maybe the NHL with the Devils,"
[Nemec said Tuesday
, the second day of Devils development camp.
Nemec's Canadian Hockey League rights are held by Cape Breton of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but he said he has no interest in playing junior hockey.
"I played two full seasons against men in Slovakia
, the No. 1 pick of the draft, it was the first time two players from the same country in Europe were taken with the first two picks since Russia-born forwards Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) were the first two selections of the 2004 NHL Draft.
Slafkovsky
signed his entry-level contract
Wednesday.
NHL.com staff writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report
