RD Seamus Casey - Univ. of Michigan (2022, 46th, NJD)

[My3Sons]

That's what I've been saying. Feels like I've been taking crazy pills.

Well I hate to break it to you but you have been. It has nothing to do with what you might have been saying however.

 

[bsu]

I like that....

 

[ponder]

Love watching this kid skate, textbook edge work, beautiful punch turns.

It’s always going to be a major uphill battle to make it in the NHL as a 5’9” dman, but he has a legit shot. Did he maybe grow a touch too? I wouldn’t guess 5’9” from watching him on the ice with Michigan.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

How does he compare to Lane Hutson?

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Love watching this kid skate, textbook edge work, beautiful punch turns.

It’s always going to be a major uphill battle to make it in the NHL as a 5’9” dman, but he has a legit shot. Did he maybe grow a touch too? I wouldn’t guess 5’9” from watching him on the ice with Michigan.

He reminds me a lot of Sam Girard with a better skillset. He's gonna drive forecheckers crazy.

Well I hate to break it to you but you have been. It has nothing to do with what you might have been saying however.

Lol damn

How does he compare to Lane Hutson?

Better defensively and has a better shot, but doesn't see the ice quite as well.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

How does he compare to Lane Hutson?

Hutson is a very easy player to get a grip on. He’s a premier driver from the back end with great stick handling, playmaking, and edges. He’s better than you’d think defensively. But he’s also like 5’8, not a blazing skater, and needs to be babysat defensively because of how many risks he takes. He’s been a consistent difference maker the last few years in junior, internationally, and now NCAA. Everything about Hutson’s profile is very defined. It’s a matter of if it works the higher the levels of hockey get.

Casey is more of a wildcard player. His skillset is unpredictable and his contributions seem to peak very high, but there are also times you ask yourself if he’s good enough to hold a regular NHL role for a sustained period of time. He skates at a similar level to Hutson, but he doesn’t have the puck possession and puck handling game of Hutson. He has some great flashes in this area where he can make some very good plays with the puck, but he doesn’t drive play offensively in the way that Hutson does. He’s a better shooter and a legitimate goal threat with his shot. Like Hutson, he’s a good defender for his size. He’s a little taller than Hutson. Maybe two inches. Casey could put it all together. At the right time, you can like all his tools, except for mediocre size, and see a future top pairing D, but he doesn’t seem to impact games like all the tools he can show at times suggest, so you could also be right predicting he’ll be unable to hold a regular NHL role.

 

[BKarchitect]

Hutson is a very easy player to get a grip on. He’s a premier driver from the back end with great stick handling, playmaking, and edges. He’s better than you’d think defensively. But he’s also like 5’8, not a blazing skater, and needs to be babysat defensively because of how many risks he takes. He’s been a consistent difference maker the last few years in junior, internationally, and now NCAA. Everything about Hutson’s profile is very defined. It’s a matter of if it works the higher the levels of hockey get.

Casey is more of a wildcard player. His skillset is unpredictable and his contributions seem to peak very high, but there are also times you ask yourself if he’s good enough to hold a regular NHL role for a sustained period of time. He skates at a similar level to Hutson, but he doesn’t have the puck possession and puck handling game of Hutson. He has some great flashes in this area where he can make some very good plays with the puck, but he doesn’t drive play offensively in the way that Hutson does. He’s a better shooter and a legitimate goal threat with his shot. Like Hutson, he’s a good defender for his size. He’s a little taller than Hutson. Maybe two inches. Casey could put it all together. At the right time, you can like all his tools, except for mediocre size, and see a future top pairing D, but he doesn’t seem to impact games like all the tools he can show at times suggest, so you could also be right predicting he’ll be unable to hold a regular NHL role.

Yeah I think he’s an exceptional collegiate player whose peak at the NHL level is probably second pairing guy who has occasional games that just pop.

That’s still a really, really good outcome considering where he was drafted…and with Hughes and Nemec in the fold and Hamilton and Siegenthaler not going anywhere anytime soon, I’d think the Devils would also be thrilled with that kind of result.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Listed on the Michigan site as 5'10 178. This is a really encouraging number for an undersized defensmen. By my calculations this has him at 25.5 BMI and he still moves quite well. If he can get to 185 while maintaining the skating he has, it gives him a great shot at handling the rigors of the NHL. It is one thing he has over Lane Hutson who currently has a 22.9 BMI. Lane adding 20-25 pounds will affect his skating.

 

[Byron Bitz]

He reminds me a lot of Sam Girard with a better skillset. He's gonna drive forecheckers crazy.


Lol damn


Better defensively and has a better shot, but doesn't see the ice quite as well.

And he’s bigger

 

[Emperoreddy]

Having himself a season

 

[Hisch13r]

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Maybe Casey will be better than Nemec. Or maybe both of them will be top pairing defnesmen . We're pretty set on Defense for now and the future on the Devils blue line.

 

[Hisch13r]

Maybe Casey will be better than Nemec. Or maybe both of them will be top pairing defnesmen . We're pretty set on Defense for now and the future on the Devils blue line.

I think he could be. I think Nemec will be a perfectly good and solid player but I don’t really expect anything special. I think Casey could be pretty special

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Maybe Casey will be better than Nemec. Or maybe both of them will be top pairing defnesmen . We're pretty set on Defense for now and the future on the Devils blue line.

I've never had any doubt that Casey would be better than Nemec. He's going to be a poor man's Makar.

 

[My3Sons]

I've never had any doubt that Casey would be better than Nemec. He's going to be a poor man's Makar.

So like a homeless man’s Lovejoy?

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

So like a homeless man’s Lovejoy?

More like a penurious Peter Harrold

 

[My3Sons]

More like a penurious Peter Harrold

I hope Casey can handle the rigors of actual in zone defending. His skill set is really impressive to me beyond that.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I hope Casey can handle the rigors of actual in zone defending. His skill set is really impressive to me beyond that.

He actually defends really well, especially for his size. Very smart in coverage and works the rotation very well. He's also got that "one man breakout" ability.

 

[My3Sons]

He actually defends really well, especially for his size. Very smart in coverage and works the rotation very well. He's also got that "one man breakout" ability.

I recall from one of the post draft interviews that the NJ scouting coordinator said that a few of the team scouts saw Casey as the best defender on last season’s USNTDP. That’s significant praise. Kudos to you for seeing the potential. It’s easy to root for these underdog prospects. He will have a clear path to an NHL spot of the defense holds up. Figure he is in college for three years and then an AHL season so his timeline is about four years out. He and Nemec could easily be the next generation of NJ right handed defenders as things stand now. I’m disappointed so many Michigan games are on the streaming service only compared to last season. I’ve only been able to watch the team a handful of times thus far.

 

[Forge]

Had to play at center tonight for Michigan against usntdp.

2 goals, an assist and another goal called back

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Had to play at center tonight for Michigan against usntdp.

2 goals, an assist and another goal called back

How was his face off performance?

 

[BigToe]

How was his face off performance?

9/14

 

[FLYguy3911]

9/14

 

[Fantomas]

Had to play at center tonight for Michigan against usntdp.

2 goals, an assist and another goal called back

intadesting. Brent Burns in reverse?

 

[RememberTheName]

Wish I watched this game. That might be one of the wildest statlines I have ever seen considering the context. The craziest part is definitely the faceoffs, but I think a close second is him scoring two goals (one called back) on f***ing redirections, basically the one goal a defenseman will never score.