Nemec signs 5-year, $36.25 million contract with Flames

Simon Nemec signed a five-year, $36.25 million contract with the Calgary Flames on Monday. It has an average annual value of $7.25 million.

The 22-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent. He was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils with forward Maxim Tsyplakov on June 23 for conditional first-round picks in the 2027 NHL Draft and 2028 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and defenseman prospect Etienne Morin. Both conditional picks are top 10 protected.

"It's good to have the contract right now, in this part of the summer," Nemec told the Flames website. "Now we can plan everything else. I'm really happy and really excited for the next five years in Calgary. I've heard so many good things from all the players, so I'm really excited."

Nemec had an NHL career-high 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 68 games last season, when he completed his entry-level contract. He's planning to arrive in Calgary from Slovakia in mid-August ahead of the Flames' preseason opener against the Seattle Kraken on Sept. 20.

"I'm doing my off-ice stuff and on-ice too; I'm on the same plan as last year, I started skating a little bit earlier, a month after the season," Nemec said. "I felt pretty good last year, so I just wanted to do the same thing this year.

"I'm working hard right now and waiting for the new season."

The highest Slovakia-born defenseman selected in the NHL Draft (No. 2, 2022), Nemec has 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 155 regular-season games and two points (one goal, one assist) in four Stanley Cup Playoff games. He had two assists in six games for fourth-place Team Slovakia at the 2026 Winter Olympics and helped his country win its first Olympic hockey medal at the 2022 Beijing Games.