The New Jersey Devils took on the Montreal Canadiens in their second preseason game on Tuesday night. The Devils mostly sent their B lineup, with just one NHL forward line (Paul Cotter-Curtis Lazar-Nathan Bastian) and one NHL defensive line (Simon Nemec-Santeri Hatakka) along with one NHL goalie (Jake Allen). Truly, the results don’t matter for this contest, but it was a good chance for Sheldon Keefe and company to see if anyone could stand out.
It didn’t really work out, but the ones outside the NHLers you’d expect to make any impact did. Kevin Labanc, who is on the Devils on a PTO, was pretty decent, although his power play attempts weren’t the best.
One player who was noticeable was incoming rookie Seamus Casey. It’s not surprising, as Casey has a stupendous skill set and was amazing in college. At the University of Michigan, Casey had 72 points in 76 college games, and he was an All-American last season. He obviously comes to the Devils with a lot of hype, and he is currently one of their top prospects. It’s either him or Russian sniper Arseni Gritsyuk as the one at the very top.
However, we all knew about Casey’s scoring prowess. That was obvious before the NHL Draft. What we didn’t know was this kid’s poise. And that will eventually bring him to the NHL.
Casey is slightly undersized, so he needs to play with supreme confidence. He can’t be knocked off his game by a big hit. He just has to move on after every big play, one way or the other. He’s stepped up big in college.
Seamus Casey's poise and calm approach to the game of hockey will eventually lead to an NHL career.
As a freshman, he opened the scoring for Michigan in the first game of the Frozen Four against Quinnipiac. Casey had five assists in the B1G Tournament first round series sweep of Notre Dame (two games). He had that clutch gene, and if he didn’t get hurt before the Frozen Four, it could have been a different result for the Wolverines.
He plays with a certain calmness that really allows the game to come to him. It’s a simplicity in his own zone, trying to find the easiest way to break out, and it’s big-IQ plays in the offensive zones. When he skates around a defenseman, it’s because that was the right play to make, not because that’s the best-looking play.
We still think Casey has a while before he’s “NHL-ready,” but we’ve seen much more in the preseason and training camp than we expected. While there are still concerns long term, he played close to an NHL lineup on Tuesday and stood out. It wasn’t because of his offensive abilities, but it was his overall game that caught many eyes.