New Jersey Devils

How Seamus Casey is Forcing the Devils’ Hand

Seamus Casey brings an offensive element to his game that is forcing the New Jersey Devils’ hand to keep him in the lineup.

Published

7 days ago

April 9, 2025

Nick Natale

Credit: New Jersey Devils

When Johnathan Kovacevic signed a five-year contract extension on Trade Deadline day, it put much of the future of the New Jersey Devils blue line in flux.

Although struggling, Simon Nemec was the future of the right side of the defense, and Seamus Casey had shown flashes of his offensive talent. Now, questions have been asked about the long-term future of both players.

But with the playoffs around the corner, Sheldon Keefe needs to ice a lineup that can compete today, not for the future. What meets in the middle of the ‘future’ and ‘now’ Venn diagram is Seamus Casey.

Despite just 12 appearances so far this season, the 21-year-old rookie brings an element to the Devils backend that is missing. The team’s blue line doesn’t boast many offensive-minded defenders or any that can transport the puck in transition outside of Luke Hughes. And while Hughes has done a terrific job filling the void left by Dougie Hamilton, the Devils play two-thirds of the game without him on the ice.

READ: Why a New Devils No.1 Defenseman is Emerging

Casey, who is lauded for his skating ability, has been a breath of fresh air every time he steps into the lineup.

His breakout passes have been crisp, and it has allowed the Devils to break out of their own zone more easily, his agility allows him to evade attackers coming in on the forecheck so he can move the puck up the ice, and when he’s in the offensive zone he can either walk the blue line effortlessly to open up shooting lanes, or he looks for an open teammate in a scoring position.

No quit in Timo. pic.twitter.com/hHnkBuf9Q3

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 5, 2025

The sample size is small, but in his 12 games played he’s scored four goals and added two assists in 12:37 of ice time. However, since being recalled and inserted back into the lineup, Casey played 14:24 and a career-high 17:36 of ice time next to Brenden Dillon.

What people ding Casey for is his size. He stands at just 5-foot-10, and it’s shown from time to time. At times, he’s been caught in his zone for extended shifts because players have been able to muscle him off the puck and use their size to mitigate his lack of reach.

It’s proved to be his biggest problem thus far and something he will have to work around. No, he won’t get taller at this stage. However, the Devils have seen firsthand an undersized player with elite skating work around this problem in Jack Hughes. Casey is no Hughes, but both are smaller players who have had issues in puck battles, but also have elite edge work to fall back on.

It took Hughes a few years before he was able to thrive in that area despite his size limitations, and there’s no reason why Casey couldn’t too.

A while back, Casey was one of the Devils best but most expendable trade assets. Now, the blueprint is there for him to be a contributing player starting now.

If Hamilton can return in time for the first round of the playoffs, Casey would likely be the odd man out of the lineup. However, it shouldn’t be ruled out that Keefe deploys an 11-forward, seven-defense lineup. Casey provides more offensive juice than most players on the fourth line, and coaches typically shorten the bench in the postseason regardless.

The most likely scenario remains that Hamilton is not ready for the start of the playoffs, and Keefe will need to decide on who his sixth defenseman is for Game 1. His options boil down to Dennis Cholowski, who hasn’t made much of a positive impact in his five appearances with the Devils, the struggling Nemec, or Casey. Things can certainly change over the next few games, but Casey should be the guy.

The Devils have enough defensive-minded defensemen, it’s time to give someone other than Luke Hughes who’s unafraid to have the puck on his stick to be in the lineup. Who knows, Casey could make a brilliant cross-ice pass to set up a teammate for a big goal like he did against the New York Rangers.

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