New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe provides an explanation for the Hughes-Nemec pair.

At Friday's practice, New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe used the same defensive pairs from Thursday night's game against the Vegas Golden Knights: Brenden Dillon - Dougie Hamilton, Brett Pesce - Johnathan Kovacevic, and Luke Hughes - Simon Nemec.

Nemec, 20, was called up from the American Hockey League on Feb. 6 after a lower-body injury sidelined Jonas Siegenthaler. The game marked his first since Oct. 22, 2024.

Hughes and Nemec previously played together during the 2023-24 season, so they were familiar with each other's games.

"We played a couple of games together last year, and I think we know each other pretty well," Nemec said to NJD.TV. "I am just excited to play with him. He is a great player and a great skater."

The duo didn't finish the game together, as Hughes and Nemec dealt with multiple struggles that led to the former being on the ice for all three Vegas goals and the latter being benched for stretches of the game.

Some were surprised to see Keefe roll out the same three pairs at practice, so The Hockey News asked Keefe for insight into the Hughes-Nemec pair. The head coach explained that it was less about their familiarity with each other and more about looking at the group as a whole. 

"(Brett) Pesce, to me, is our best candidate to play on his off-side, even if it is not ideal," he said. "It is how to best utilize him there. Siegenthaler and (Johnathan) Kovacevic have been so reliable for us. We have leaned on them so heavily. We feel Pesce is similar in that sense, so we are feeling it out from there. (Brenden) Dillon and (Dougie) Hamilton have familiarity. So, that's what we got."

After practice, the Devils departed for Canada, where they will play the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday afternoon before the 4-Nations break. 

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