Devils' Casey Has a Long-Term Future in New Jersey
Seamus Casey may not have a roster spot with the New Jersey Devils in the short term, but it's not hard to see the long-term vision.
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The New Jersey Devils' defense has a pretty good long-term future. Dougie Hamilton has five years left on his contract, John Marino has three, and Jonas Siegenthaler just completed the first of a five-year extension he signed in July 2022.
Of course, there are Luke Hughes and Šimon Nemec, too. They were thrown into the fire this past season and generally handled the minutes quite well. But they're not the only young prospects Devils fans should be excited about.
After much anticipation, the Devils signed Seamus Casey to a three-year entry-level contract on May 6. A second-round pick at the 2022 draft, he's turned into one of the team's best prospects. And while you can never rule out the Devils trading him, it's likely in their best interest to hang on to Casey.
Casey's Emergence as a Top Prospect
The Devils drafted Casey in the second round of the 2022 draft with the pick they swapped with the Washington Capitals in the Vitek Vaněček trade. Depending on where you looked that year, Casey was a late first to early second-round talent in quite a few public rankings.
You can probably figure out why Casey fell a bit that year. At 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, a smaller defenseman doesn't usually appeal to NHL teams. Even the Devils have tended to go for bigger, mobile defensemen during general manager Tom Fitzgerald's tenure.
But the Devils knew what they had in seeing Casey available at their slot. Mark Dennehy even said, "(The Casey) pick didn’t take long because we were looking at our list going, ‘Oh jeez. Wow. He’s here? Done. Let’s go.'"
Casey may be smaller, but his skating is borderline elite. At the very least, it's dynamic. His edgework is fantastic, and he uses his skating ability in every facet of the game. He can move the puck in transition with his skating and deke players out of their skates at the blue line to create more space for himself in the offensive zone.
Casey's puck skills are also something to behold. He's not a big-time goal scorer, but he uses his puck skills to create space in the offensive zone, too. He's also a high-end passer and has great vision and awareness of where his teammates are on the ice.
The biggest concern for Casey will be how he holds up defensively. I'm not worried about his rush defense because of his skating, but how he handles puck retrievals on dump-ins is a concern due to his size.
Still, there's too much to like about his game. Casey finished his sophomore season with 45 points in 40 games for the Michigan Wolverines, making him one of the top-scoring defensemen in the NCAA. His skating and offensive upside make him worth keeping around. It might not seem like there's a place for him on the Devils' roster, but that's only in the short term.
Casey Could Be the Marino Succession Plan
The Devils won't need Casey in the NHL next season, at least most likely. And that's just fine. He'll probably benefit from playing a full year in the AHL with the Utica Comets. With Dougie Hamilton expected to be fully healthy to start the 2024-25 season, the right side of the Devils' defense could be one of the best in the NHL.
Marino had a down year in 2023-24, but I expect him to rebound and become a reliable shutdown defender under new head coach Sheldon Keefe. Nemec may only be 20 years old, but he had a solid rookie season and an impressive showing for Slovakia at the World Championships, which concluded on May 26.
There are some what-ifs on the right side of the defense. Marino needs to rebound, and Nemec needs to take the next step forward in his development. But those are more likely than not, so I wouldn't be too concerned. Regardless, that right side should be excellent, assuming everyone stays healthy. Nemec in a third-pair role like Damon Severson had in 2022-23 could be deadly.
There's no place for Casey on the Devils' blue line in the short term. But you don't have to look too far down the road to see where he could fit into the team's plans.
Nemec is going to get paid sooner rather than later. He'll be eligible for an extension from his ELC on July 1, 2025, and chances are the Devils will want to give him a long-term deal, ala Jake Sanderson, before he really breaks out and becomes too expensive.
Of course, Nemec needs to have a breakout year in 2024-25, but I'd bet on that being the case rather than not. At that point, the right side of the Devils' blue line could get pretty expensive with Hamilton, Nemec and Marino.
Nemec will most likely make more than Marino on his next contract, but he certainly won't come close to Hamilton. Still, that's a lot of money tied up into one position. Even if the salary cap rises close to $100 million in the next few years, Fitzgerald may not want that on the blue line.
If there's an odd man out, it'll be Marino. At that point, he would likely be playing third-pair minutes to Nemec, who should continue moving up the lineup. Do the Devils want to pay a third-pair defenseman $4.4 million annually, even with the cap going up? Probably not.
That's where you can see the vision for Casey. He's the Marino succession plan. The Devils could run a right side of Hamilton, Nemec and Casey and not miss a beat. Casey should still be on his ELC, which is perfect for a third-pair defender. And his offensive skill set is well suited for the Severson role.
That's why the Devils should intend to keep Casey. If I had to guess, that is probably their plan anyway. I don't think they would've signed him to his three-year ELC this summer if they intended to trade him. You can never say because you never know what deal comes across Fitzgerald's table, but he shouldn't be looking to trade Casey anytime soon.
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Backup plan is that if they think he’s a bit too small for D, Casey could transition to C in order to provide depth there. He has the skills needed for that position and could be a very solid distributor.