Devils Seamus Casey has Breakout Performance at WJC

With Team Canada eliminated from the World Junior Championship tournament on Tuesday, the gold is ripe for the taking. New Jersey Devils prospect, Seamus Casey, is trying to help Team USA get there.

USA’s quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday was against Team Latvia. Through four games in the tournament (missing one with an illness) thus far, Casey had a good tournament but didn’t stand out like we’re used to seeing in the NCAA.

However, that changed on Tuesday as the Devils prospect broke out with a three-assist performance.

Casey provided two primary assists on the USA’s second and third goals. He added a secondary assist on the sixth goal in USA’s 7-2 victory. Casey is now up to five assists in four games of the tournament.

Following the USA’s victory, Steven Ellis of DailyFaceoff named Casey as one of the standout performers in the contest.

“Casey had three assists in the lopsided affair while also making himself a pain in the behind to try and get past,” Ellis wrote. “We know Casey can generate chances, but he’s one heck of a physical defender, too.”

We’re used to seeing the highlights from Casey’s play at the University of Michigan. It feels as though Casey is scoring at will at the NCAA level. However, the Devils’ prospects’ defensive game isn’t typically highlighted. It’s encouraging to see the note on how well Casey is playing defensively, something the Devils will certainly need to maintain on their back end.

Casey wasn’t the only Devils prospect who found the scoresheet on Tuesday. Forward prospect Lenni Hameenaho also found the back of the net, scoring a big goal for Team Finland earlier in the day.