Casey, Devils prospect, taking steps in development at Michigan

NEWARK, N.J. -- Seamus Casey is looking forward to another season of building strength and power on the road to occupying a future roster spot with the New Jersey Devils.

"I think strength is a big thing," the University of Michigan sophomore defenseman said. "I put on a little bit of weight this summer and in the spring thanks to my trainers back home (in Florida) and strength coach at Michigan. My goal is to kind of gain like 10 pounds of muscle, but you want to slowly do it by eating the right way.

"Then just continuing to figure out what I can do on the ice, how to take away space as a defenseman and how to gain space playing offense."

The right-handed shot (5-foot-10, 180 pounds), selected in the second round (No. 46) by the Devils in the 2022 NHL Draft, has already added approximately six pounds of muscle (eight total pounds) to his frame. He ranked second among Michigan defensemen with 29 points (eight goals, 21 assists), had 102 shots on goal and 24 blocked shots in 37 games as a freshman with the Wolverines last season. Casey was named to the Big 10 All-Freshman Team and College Hockey News All-Rookie Team.

"He was a joy to be around; I sat beside him all year," said Devils defenseman and former Michigan teammate Luke Hughes. "I think he's just a real silky defenseman, can dance around guys and has pretty good hockey sense. He can really feather pucks and gets good shots through."

Casey's game flourished during the second half of the season at Michigan as he gained more confidence and was funneling more pucks to the net alongside defense partner and Devils prospect Ethan Edwards (5-11, 190).

"I changed my stick from a 77 flex to a 70 flex, a small detail that helped a lot," Casey said. "I continued to work on getting my release faster and working on shooting from different angles too. A big thing was just working on getting pucks through from the blue line."

Michigan won a second straight Big 10 championship but fell short of an NCAA championship when it lost 5-2 to Quinnipiac University in the NCAA Tournament semifinals.

"I'd be lying if I said we aren't hungry for another chance of getting back to the Frozen Four," Casey said.

Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said Casey is just scratching the surface of how good he can become.

"He's ultra-deceptive in everything he does," Naurato said. "He kills plays with his angling and stick detail. The only thing he's giving up is strength and size and that'll come with physical maturity and being in the weight room, and he'll keep getting better.

"As long as he's at Michigan, he'll be running the power play and running our offense from the blue line."

Another year of college hockey should do wonders for Casey if that's what the Devils deem best for his development.

"There's really no rush because we have some depth on defense," Devils player development coach Eric Weinrich said. "I'm always a big believer in guys making the steps and I'm sure he's going to have a good season this year. But if he played a year in Utica (of the American Hockey League), that wouldn't be a bad thing either. With his ability, he might be able to step right in."

Photos courtesy: Andrew Maclean, New Jersey Devils