Prospect Info: #46 Overall, RD Seamus Casey US-NTDP

[Devils731]

Hockey Reference has Jack at 5'11 - 175

Quinn at 5'10 - 180

Elite has Casey at 5'9 - 161

When Jack and Quinn have 15/20 pounds on you...

Michigan has him at 5’10” 178 currently so Casey likely ends up bigger than Quinn and Jack since most guys put on weight their first couple of years after turning pro.

 

[JimEIV]

Michigan has him at 5’10” 178 currently so Casey likely ends up bigger than Quinn and Jack since most guys put on weight their first couple of years after turning pro.

I don't believe it for a second. Look at him next to everyone else. No way he's 5'10 178....no way at all.

 

[Hisch13r]

Weird to be so believing of Jack and Quinn’s measurements but not Casey when both Michigan and at dev camp he came in at 5’10 ~180. Should I believe the 2 different sources or guy on the internet who says “no way” off of nothing real?

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

I don't believe it for a second. Look at him next to everyone else. No way he's 5'10 178....no way at all.

I met him at the prospects scrimmage over the summer. He is about 5 foot 10 , I'm not sure about the weight though. 178 lbs isn't out of the question though if he added more muscle from July to October.

Size wise if guys like Jack , Quinn and numerous other players of that build can play in the NHL than I don't see size holding him back too much. He certainly has the skilleset to be a very good NHLer. He honestly might be a player I can see switching to forward. I know it isn't very common but if he really struggles that badly in the defensive zone when it comes to the physical parts of the game than he could be a prime candidate to switch to forward. He played center last season for a game or two and put up numbers. I know not alot of defensmen switch to forward in the NHL though and vice versa but I'm sure many of them can. If Brendan Smith can do it than I'm sure Casey is more than capable. I feel like it is the easier of the position change of going from D to F as well. Even without Casey we still have many defensemen in the system that have good potential. I'd prefer to see Casey as a defensman on the big club but you have to wonder to an extent how good he can be if he were to be a center or a winger.

 

[JimEIV]

Weird to be so believing of Jack and Quinn’s measurements but not Casey when both Michigan and at dev camp he came in at 5’10 ~180. Should I believe the 2 different sources or guy on the internet who says “no way” off of nothing real?

Heights and weights from schools have notoriously been off for ages.

It's nothing new, especially for smaller players

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

Heights and weights from schools have notoriously been off for ages.

It's nothing new, especially for smaller players

Hockey reference still lists Nico at 175. That’s at least 20 lbs off, likely more than that. Listed weights don’t mean much. But there’s no reason to think the lighter listed weight from years ago is more accurate than a newer one.

Of course Seamus has gained weight from last year to now, you’ve heard of the freshman 15 right?

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

Hockey reference still lists Nico at 175. That’s at least 20 lbs off, likely more than that. Listed weights don’t mean much. But there’s no reason to think the lighter listed weight from years ago is more accurate than a newer one.

Of course Seamus has gained weight from last year to now, you’ve heard of the freshman 15 right?

He's listed at 175 on the NHL site. I don't think he is 20 lbs heavier than that and certainly doesn't look like it.

 

[Devils731]

Heights and weights from schools have notoriously been off for ages.

It's nothing new, especially for smaller players

I think the listed height and weights are all over the place for any level; so it’s odd to trust hockeydb but not others.

I’m a flat 6’2” so it’s always interesting to see which 6’4” guys I can look straight in the eye and which I can’t when I go to team events.

 

[Hisch13r]

I met him at the prospects scrimmage over the summer. He is about 5 foot 10 , I'm not sure about the weight though. 178 lbs isn't out of the question though if he added more muscle from July to October.

Size wise if guys like Jack , Quinn and numerous other players of that build can play in the NHL than I don't see size holding him back too much. He certainly has the skilleset to be a very good NHLer. He honestly might be a player I can see switching to forward. I know it isn't very common but if he really struggles that badly in the defensive zone when it comes to the physical parts of the game than he could be a prime candidate to switch to forward. He played center last season for a game or two and put up numbers. I know not alot of defensmen switch to forward in the NHL though and vice versa but I'm sure many of them can. If Brendan Smith can do it than I'm sure Casey is more than capable. I feel like it is the easier of the position change of going from D to F as well. Even without Casey we still have many defensemen in the system that have good potential. I'd prefer to see Casey as a defensman on the big club but you have to wonder to an extent how good he can be if he were to be a center or a winger.

People always bring up him switching but I don’t see it. Yeah he had that game last year and he’s smart enough and skilled enough to switch but he plays the game like a Dman and he’s so good that I wouldn’t bother changing him

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

He's listed at 175 on the NHL site. I don't think he is 20 lbs heavier than that and certainly doesn't look like it.

He is most definitely not the same weight he was as a rookie. His own personal website lists him at 194 lbs. I believe he was listed at that weight when he last played for Switzerland.

Edit: just checked. Yes, IIHF site lists him at 194

 

[Guttersniped]

I met him at the prospects scrimmage over the summer. He is about 5 foot 10 , I'm not sure about the weight though. 178 lbs isn't out of the question though if he added more muscle from July to October.

Size wise if guys like Jack , Quinn and numerous other players of that build can play in the NHL than I don't see size holding him back too much. He certainly has the skilleset to be a very good NHLer. He honestly might be a player I can see switching to forward. I know it isn't very common but if he really struggles that badly in the defensive zone when it comes to the physical parts of the game than he could be a prime candidate to switch to forward. He played center last season for a game or two and put up numbers. I know not alot of defensmen switch to forward in the NHL though and vice versa but I'm sure many of them can. If Brendan Smith can do it than I'm sure Casey is more than capable. I feel like it is the easier of the position change of going from D to F as well. Even without Casey we still have many defensemen in the system that have good potential. I'd prefer to see Casey as a defensman on the big club but you have to wonder to an extent how good he can be if he were to be a center or a winger.

Casey is undersized but seems pretty stout so I’m optimistic.

I actually agree with Pronman’s (somewhat overdramatic) negativity towards undersized defensemen. Coaches like size. If the player need PP time to justify getting on the roster or ice time then they’re in trouble because it isn’t 1992 anymore. But Casey has more than just offense.

I don’t see the switch happening. Ironically, Lindy Ruff is one of the few more recent example of it since he was drafted as defenseman, but switched to winger after he made the NHL. (He wasn’t the fastest skater lol.) He switched back to a defenseman in his last few seasons.

By “one of the few” I mean Ruff’s the only modern player I know of who genuinely made that particular switch early in his career like that. (Unless Mark Howe counts.)

Defenseman Ron Greschner played some wing for the Rags in the 1980s but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t for a whole season at a time.

The size concerns are overblown imo, he’s not 5’4” he’s 5’10”. There’s plenty of diminutive offense-first defenders who’ve carved out very successful NHL careers.

Casey is a serious talent, at this point I’d view someone like Torey Krug as the absolute floor for him in the NHL.

Krug scored 40 points, with 14 goals, in 2013-14 as a 22 year old rookie. That’s not Casey’s floor.

He has the potential to be a real scoring threat, which helps obviously.

 

[Triumph]

Casey is undersized but seems pretty stout so I’m optimistic.

I actually agree with Pronman’s (somewhat overdramatic) negativity towards undersized defensemen. Coaches like size. If the player need PP time to justify getting on the roster or ice time then they’re in trouble because it isn’t 1992 anymore. But Casey has more than just offense.

I don’t see the switch happening. Ironically, Lindy Ruff is one of the few more recent example of it since he was drafted as defenseman, but switched to winger after he made the NHL. (He wasn’t the fastest skater lol.) He switched back to a defenseman in his last few seasons.

By “one of the few” I mean Ruff’s the only modern player I know of who genuinely made that particular switch early in his career like that. (Unless Mark Howe counts.)

Defenseman Ron Greschner played some wing for the Rags in the 1980s but I’m pretty sure that wasn’t for a whole season at a time.




Krug scored 40 points, with 14 goals, in 2013-14 as a 22 year old rookie. That’s not Casey’s floor.

He has the potential to be a real scoring threat, which helps obviously.

Wendel Clark I think was a D/LW when drafted but AFAIK was never used on D in his NHL career. Byfuglien is the obvious example - drafted as a D, moved to F after a couple years in the AHL, moved back to D out of necessity due to injuries and stayed there - but that's not the ideal outcome. Brent Burns was drafted as a hybrid and also spent most of a year at forward but again, this is a guy still playing high-level hockey at age 38, it doesn't seem like moving him to forward was particularly smart.

 

[JimEIV]

I recall it being fairly common for tough guys to go from D to LW like Mike Peluso... I know there are others but I can't think right now.

 

[Guttersniped]

Wendel Clark I think was a D/LW when drafted but AFAIK was never used on D in his NHL career. Byfuglien is the obvious example - drafted as a D, moved to F after a couple years in the AHL, moved back to D out of necessity due to injuries and stayed there - but that's not the ideal outcome. Brent Burns was drafted as a hybrid and also spent most of a year at forward but again, this is a guy still playing high-level hockey at age 38, it doesn't seem like moving him to forward was particularly smart.

I forgot about Byfuglien. He did start at defense in Chicago too, but he definitely played some forward there obviously and he did later in Winnipeg.

Burns moving from F to D is a different situation to me, I was specifically thinking of D to F.

Burns is one of the few guys who made (a basically permanent) switch at an early age in the NHL.

Phil Housley played some games at forward early on but it never took.

If we can’t find other more recent examples then it’s not really a thing though.

 

[Triumph]

I forgot about Byfuglien. He did start at defense in Chicago too, but he definitely played some forward there obviously and he did later in Winnipeg.

Burns moving from F to D is a different situation to me, I was specifically thinking of D to F.

Burns is one of the few guys who made (a basically permanent) switch at an early age in the NHL.

Phil Housley played some games at forward early on but it never took.

If we can’t find other more recent examples then it’s not really a thing though.

Burns went back to forward full-time in 2013-14. I agree it's different but he had already been a defenseman in the NHL for 9 years at that point.

 

[DevilDog]

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cJR6dtNEqdv3JBQCWuCBhf3Vi0I=/0x0:918x543/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:918x543):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25022208/ncaaweek1.PNG

Yes it’s early, but his PNHLe is literally off the charts.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cJR6dtNEqdv3JBQCWuCBhf3Vi0I=/0x0:918x543/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:918x543):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25022208/ncaaweek1.PNG

Yes it’s early, but his PNHLe is literally off the charts.

He's already too good to be playing college hockey. But that's okay, he can still learn things, and more importantly, get some more time in the weight room.

If he can get to a sturdy 5'10 185+ while maintaining his quickness, I think he'll be fine. He's smart enough and quick enough to be an undersized NHL defenseman.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

1 g and 1 a against Lindenwood.

 

[Hisch13r]

The assist. He’s going to be in the Hobey Baker conversation with how things are going

 

[Xirik]

The assist. He’s going to be in the Hobey Baker conversation with how things are going

nobody cares!


Only thing that maters is if he goes 1st overall in a redraft.

 

[forceten]

nobody cares!


Only thing that maters is if he goes 1st overall in a redraft.

Impossible because he's no Hutson

 

[My3Sons]

Impossible because he's no Hutson

Haven’t you heard? Hutson has only two points in three games before getting injured. That makes him an official bust. It’s a shame. He had a nice long run but at 19 it’s obvious his better days are behind him and MTL fans should take to the main board to peddle him to other teams while he still has value.

 

[Guadana]

Haven’t you heard? Hutson has only two points in three games before getting injured. That makes him an official bust. It’s a shame. He had a nice long run but at 19 it’s obvious his better days are behind him and MTL fans should take to the main board to peddle him to other teams while he still has value.

In minor trade like Hutson for Nemec.

 

[rrekaj13]

1 g and 1 a against Lindenwood.

Love the handshake celebration

 

[Hisch13r]

5 on 3 secondary