One of the very first things the Ottawa Senators did after their captain forced a trade on the grounds of being someone’s younger brother, was drafting someone’s younger brother. Self-fulfilling prophecy, much?
Adam Nemec, however, is a lot more than simply the younger brother of a former 2nd-overall pick. Like Simon, Adam spent his draft year in the top Slovak league, but he moved to the OHL halfway through, racking up 35 points in 31 games with the Sudbury Wolves as a left-winger, which allowed him to improve his draft stock such that he was a projected second-to-third round pick. At 72nd overall, that’s good value for your Ottawa Senators.
As is the case with all eight of the Senators’ selections in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, I’m in a tough spot with Nemec. That’s because you already have read – or are about to read – Ary’s annual post-draft recap on the 2026 class, which covers pretty much everything you need to know about the 6’1 left winger. He’s best described as an all-around player that can be effective up and down the lineup, highlighted by a combination of drive and intellect that allow him to be effective in limited space.
Because of the relative lack of sample size in the OHL, questions continue to linger regarding Nemec’s ceiling as a prospect. A large part of this was the difference in responsibility between his time in Slovakia as a checking forward versus a top offensive contributor in Major Junior, creating somrthing of a tale of two players.
The fact that Nemec was able to elevate his stock through increased production, does point to a possibility of being more than a bottom-six player in the NHL. While we like to think that a player’s role is defined by what they’re able to do on the ice, a lot of times it works in the opposite way. Bottom-six minutes, and varying quality of teammates and competition can both augment or hinder a player’s effectiveness – in Nemec’s case, he has shown to be a quality offensive player among his fellow OHL draftees, ranking 4th among 2026 draft-eligible forwards. We may not be looking at an improvement in skill, as much as an improvement in circumstance. On the other hand, scouts best be aware of prospects that quickly show an improvement in production – lots of times it can be attributed to an inflated shooting percentage. Nemec shot 16% in the OHL, which seems like it could drop over a full season. There’s still a lot of uncertainty that will be resolved in short order when Nemec hits the ice for his first full season with the Wolves.
What makes Nemec a strong pick for Ottawa is that he has a safe floor, and a fairly high ceiling, at least for a third-round pick. Something of a hybrid between the Sens’ new philosophy of drafting high-ceiling skilled forwards and their old tendencies to go after safer options. Where the Senators have missed the mark in the past, is that a lot of their safer picks didn’t have very high odds of even being quality AHL players, due to a lack of production in the lower leagues. Lots of career bottom-six NHLers, like Nick Cousins, for example, were smaller-than-average, point-per-game players in their draft year.
Especially after you consider how good Travis Green, the rest of the coaching staff, as well as the organization’s developmental staff have been at instilling improved two-way ability into their most skilled forwards, continuing to target players like Nemec in the middle of the draft is a no-brainer.
Look for Nemec to play two more full seasons in the OHL before joining Belleville in 2028.