Nemec, Ristolainen improved stock at 2026 Olympics
The Winter Olympics are in the books, leaving plenty of topics to ruminate on for hockey fans with two years to go before international best-on-best competition returns with the 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
The Americans have snapped their 46-year gold medal drought and Canada faces some questions before a likely upswing in its talent pool, but plenty of players outside the sport’s top two super powers made strong impressions with their performances at the Olympics.
That includes Slovakian defenseman Simon Nemec of the New Jersey Devils and Finnish defender Rasmus Ristolainen of the Philadelphia Flyers. Nemec re-established himself as an emerging star as he helped the Slovaks to a win in their group, while Ristolainen put on a show for NHL teams interested in adding his experience to their blue lines ahead of the trade deadline.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Jeff Marek, host of The Sheet, to discuss why Nemec and Ristolainen were among the players who boosted their stock the most with their performances at the Olympics.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Jeff Marek, Monday to Friday, with The Sheet right here on the Daily Faceoff YouTube. Jeff, how you doing?
Jeff Marek: I’m good. Can I throw another name out at you? For players that improve their stock during [the Olympics[– there’s a couple I want to throw in. I’ll tell you what, man. Simon Nemec, his pairing with Martin Fehervary, with Slovakia was outstanding. Maybe one of the best pairs in the games. Like, that was– like, that’s the guy the New Jersey Devils thought that they were getting when they drafted him second overall. Every game that he plays, and on the biggest stage against the biggest and best players in the world, I thought that Simon Nemec was outstanding. And how about Rasmus Ristolainen, of the Philadelphia Flyers here, who had a really good tournament? I just thought those two specifically… Nemec and Ristolainen, for me, would be the two that I would sort of lob out here to your viewers and listeners.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…