Devils Seamus Casey Embracing Challenges Ahead, Reveals Signing Delay

New Jersey Devils prospect defenseman Seamus Casey was about to begin a workout before he signed his entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils, turning from college athlete to professional hockey player.

The product of the University of Michigan ended his NCAA career building on a strong freshman season which blossomed into an impressive sophomore campaign. Despite coming up short a championship, there wasn’t much left for Casey to prove at the college level.

“I knew I was going to sign with the Devils, it’s all I wanted,” Casey explained to New Jersey Hockey Now. “Obviously there’s little things to get worked out. The day I was [signing], I was getting up early to go workout down in Plymouth. I had my agent meet me at the rink with the papers and everything. I ran upstairs and signed it, took a quick picture and then came downstairs to the gym.

“It was a good day in the gym. I felt like I could lift a lot heavier. It was cool, a surreal feeling, and just something obviously you want to do your whole life. So to actually put the pen on paper — it’s pretty cool.”

Asked Casey who the first person on the team was who called him after he signed. No surprise, former Michigan teammate Luke Hughes was the first one on the phone to congratulate his new Devils teammate.

“Luke’s always been a good buddy to me,” said Casey. “We got along really well at Michigan. I think he was happy to see me get that done, and hopefully I’ll see him soon.”

When the University of Michigan was eliminated from the NCAA’s Frozen Four, they had a number of their players ink entry-level contracts with their respective teams. Some even made their NHL debuts. Devils fans were certainly hoping for Casey to do the same. However, the end of the season came and went, but Casey remained unsigned.

Casey’s best friend and Michigan teammate, Gavin Brindley, did sign before the end of the season and made his NHL debut with the Columbus Blue Jackets, however. In an online viral moment for Casey, he was seen in the seats at Nationwide Arena, happily in tears, watching his best bud make his NHL debut.

That feeling when your best friend makes his @NHL debut 🥹🥹 pic.twitter.com/qvpjadb6te

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 16, 2024

“That was an awesome day. Me and Gavin have literally been there every step of the way with each other,” Casey said. “It’s pretty rare to find, you know? Being there with your actual best buddy and just looking back, I think it all hit me. Just every mini stick memory, every street hockey memory, the Florida Everblades — Florida Alliance recreational hockey together. Everything.

“It was pretty cool watching him do his [rookie] lap. I could still get emotional, I’m just proud of him. Knowing that I — myself was gonna be in a similar boat because I knew I was gonna sign pretty soon. And obviously, we haven’t done anything yet, but we had accomplished at least that and it was just a moment to kind of just be happy for him, looking back and seeing his family and some of our closest friends. They’re all there to support him, it was really special.”

It wasn’t until May 6th that Casey decided to put pen to paper with the Devils, however. By then, the Devils had cleaned out their lockers and headed home for the summer. Their season was over as the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway.

Asked Casey if there was an opportunity for him to do the same as his buddy, Brindley, and make his NHL debut toward the end of the 2023-24 season. The Devils prospect defenseman had a different train of thought regarding the timing of turning pro.

“Yeah, I could have left right away and maybe have gotten the last game in,” Casey revealed. “That was something that was talked about. There’s just a lot of different paths. That was something I could have done, but I just felt for my development that there’s a different path to go about it. That kind of changes your timeline a little bit and that’s not the direction I wanted to go in. So I took a little bit more time to make my decision. I could have done that, but it’s not the direction we chose.”

Casey opting to hold off on making his NHL debut gives himself and the Devils a full three years on his entry-level contract as opposed to burning a year for making his NHL debut in 2023-24. For the Devils organization, it’s a net positive that Casey decided to hold off to squeeze out as much of his entry-level contract as they can. From a player standpoint, Casey seems to understand there’s no rush to jump right into NHL action.

The Devils added quite a lot this summer. On the blue line, Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, and Johnathan Kovacevic have all been added, while also bringing Nick DeSimone back on a one-way ticket. Despite some formidable competition for Casey to compete with at training camp in September, the Miami, Florida native welcomes the challenge of competing with NHL veterans, but is also excited by the idea of being part of a competing organization.

Asked Casey if the influx of defenseman changes his mindset on the outlook for his 2024-25 season moving forward.

“No, it doesn’t change my mindset because the NHL has always been a hard place to get to, and it always will be a hard place to get to,” said Casey. “I think the second if you start to think it’s gonna be easy at any point is probably the second you should just hang them up if you ever think that’s gonna be the case. I’ve always known this is an extremely hard league to make an extremely hard team to crack so, it’s just exciting to have the opportunity to be here.

“You can make the lineup, but if they’ve drafted more guys and signed guys, it just means you’re gonna hopefully be on a better team and have a better chance to win. So the opportunity to try to make that team is just even more exciting now.”

There’s a good chance that Casey starts his pro career playing for the Utica Comets. It should come as no surprise as General Manager Tom Fitzgerald revealed that even 2022 second overall selection Simon Nemec wasn’t even going to play in the NHL last season had Dougie Hamilton remained healthy.

Casey could have returned to Michigan for his junior year with the Wolverines. It would have been the safer bet in terms of consistency, knowing he’d be playing in familiar territory with one team for the entire season. However, the 20-year-old defenseman explained it’s the challenge of taking the next step in his professional career that he looked forward to, even if it was in the American Hockey league, as opposed to the NHL.

“Obviously, that’s a hard choice. I love Michigan so much,” Casey said. “I think those will always be some of the best days of my life, playing college hockey with the boys. Michigan is such a special place, one that I will always look back and see as a huge step in my development and everything the staff did for me there. But I think for me, whether I’m in Utica — whatever the staff feels is best for me where I can fit in, it’s a challenge and I think it’s the next step for me to get better at honing my craft at the next level. The American Hockey League is a great league, and it’s developed players since it’s been founded. I welcome any challenge I can get myself into.”

Many believed the Devils stole Casey who was viewed as a first-round talent who fell to the second round in his draft year. There’s no doubt they hit a home run on a player who at least embraces challenges and exhibits leadership qualities. They’re also getting a helluva player, too, one that Devils fans should certainly be excited to watch as soon as this September.

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