James Nichols
NEWARK — The smile on his face said it all. Seamus Casey earned a spot on the New Jersey Devils’ 27-man roster heading to Prague to take part in the Global Series. Coming into September with the belief that he’d be heading to the Utica Comets to serve as their No.1 defenseman, Casey’s training camp and preseason performance couldn’t keep the 20-year-old off the varsity squad roster.
“It’s exciting to be in this room. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t want to make any assumptions, but yeah, it’s been good so far, and I’m just excited to get to Prague,” Casey said in an exclusive interview with New Jersey Hockey Now.
Casey isn’t just traveling as an extra, however. Injuries to Luke Hughes, Brett Pesce, and Santeri Hatakka left a spot up for grabs on the Devils’ left side of the blue line.
READ: Seamus Casey Impresses Devils Superstar & Coach in Roster Spot Bid
Head coach Sheldon Keefe beamed when explaining it wasn’t just the absence of roster locks that earned Casey a spot on the roster.
“I’m sure if you had to wager on it, you would have said he’d be going to Utica to start the season and gain valuable experience down there,” Keefe explained. “But we have opportunity here, with the injuries that we have, and he’s performed well. We think he’s earned the right to come on the trip with us.”
On what Casey’s proven he can do, Keefe said, “The games he’s played for us, he made plays and advanced the puck for us nicely, which is something we need. He’s also defended well, used good angles. He’s cut people off and used his body in a very intelligent way, which is important if you are an undersized defenseman, you’ve got to know how to defend with your body and with your stick. [Casey’s] showed the ability to do that.”
MORE: Devils Should Roster Seamus Casey, Cut Jakub Zboril
Casey skated on Sunday morning on the left side of the Devils’ blue line. As a right-shot defenseman, that’s an unusual deployment. However, the Devils are short left shots and Casey explained the left side isn’t unfamiliar to him.
“I’ve played in the past. You know, defense is defense,” Casey said to New Jersey Hockey Now. “Obviously, there are challenges that come with it. There are some things that make it a little tougher, but there are also some advantages, such as you’re on your forehand in the middle sometimes. So, you know, there’s challenges and advantages to it. But, I’ve got some experience playing that side, so it’s nothing too crazy.”
When asked about deploying Casey on his off side, coach Keefe explained it had at least a little bit to do with not putting other guys out of position. However, he made sure to highlight Casey’s intelligence as a factor in why he trusts the 20-year-old to play out of position.
“Casey is a smart player. He’s done it before in college. He’s a smart, skilled player,” Keefe explained. “He was able to get himself out of tricky situations because of his intelligence and his skill. So that’s part of it. You think that he can do it. The other piece is you’re just trying to not mess with the other guys so much. So, those things combined is why you do that.”
Coach Keefe explained amid training camp that he felt Casey actually got off to a bit of a slow start at rookie camp just a few weeks ago. However, since arriving with the veterans on Sept. 18th, Casey has done nothing but continually impress the coaching staff and only gotten better each day. Keefe has certainly noticed Casey’s rapid upward trajectory.
“Well, in terms of what he’s shown, Casey’s shown confidence,” the Devils head coach stated. “When I say that, it’s just that he’s stayed true to himself in his game, despite the fact he’s coming into his first camp and all of that, he’s been himself and really gotten better each day. Seems like he’s gotten more and more confident and comfortable.”
Casey echoed his coaches comments, citing the support that’s helped his confidence reach new heights.
“With each rep, you know, I played two games, those helped a lot. And, you know, every practice just with the guys, each time you touch the puck and go through each rep, [the confidence] grows a little bit,” Casey said to New Jersey Hockey Now. “So, just trying to work through all that stuff. But yeah, the guys are helping out a lot, and yeah, I’d say it’s growing quite a bit.”
The former Michigan Wolverines defenseman lined up next to Simon Nemec on Sunday. Those two are a presumed pair — at least while they play twice in Prague.
Casey explained there was no difficulty to hop right in and play with the former second overall selection.
“Yeah, [Nemec] is great. He’s obviously an unbelievable player and super easy to play with out there. So I’m excited to do that,” Casey said to New Jersey Hockey Now.
As far as what made coach Keefe put the two youths together, he felt the intelligence of both players played a big role in the decision.
“I mean, we’ve got to see, right? I think it’s two young guys, obviously not something I expected — for them to be a pair,” Keefe explained. “And we don’t have preseason time here left, but, I wanted to see it in practice here today, and we’ll see it throughout the week in Prague, and make a decision from there. But two good, smart defensive and that can move the puck well and make plays. And with the current setup that we had out there, we expected it would be mixing and matching and playing different people with each other and moving things around. But we wanted to get a look at those two guys. See if we could get those guys some chemistry and still maintain the other four.
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