New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Seamus Casey, All-Star

Seamus Casey is officially an AHL All-Star. This post covers what that may mean for his development.

The news came from the Comets page on X.

Although Utica has struggled this season, Casey’s All-Star selection is kind of a big deal for a 21-year-old defenseman playing his first year of professional hockey. To put age and professional experience in context, Casey will skate on the same blueline with another former Devils draft pick, 28-year-old, Jeremy Davies, who currently suits up for the Belleville Senators and has played in the AHL for parts of six seasons. The rest of the AHL All-Star rosters can be viewed here. The game is scheduled for Monday, February 3rd at 9:00 EST and all the details can be seen in that link for those who are interested. The AHL announcement article also makes this boast.

since 1995, more than 94 percent of All-Star Classic participants have gone on to compete in the National Hockey League

Seamus Casey is already included in that 94%. So too, is Jeremy Davies, who has suited up for 23 NHL contests so far in his career. Hopefully, Casey has many more than that to play.

Around the Pool:

• On Friday, the aforementioned Comets got smoked again, this time 5-1 to Rochester. Ryan Schmelzer scored the lone goal for the Comets. Isaac Poulter took the punishment in net, stopping 32 of 37. After the humiliation, the Comets dropped to 8-18-2-2, a full thirteen points behind sixth place Belleville. Miraculously, after the game the Comets were not the worst team in the entire AHL. That dishonor belonged to the Bridgeport Islanders, who have slid to 7-22-2-2 after a horrid month of losing hockey. Go Islanders!
• On Saturday, the Comets rebounded to a much-needed 4-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies. Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur earned his first AHL win of his career, stopping 27 of 28 as a call-up for still-injured Nico Daws. Nolan Foote led the offense with two goals and an assist. Brian Halonen also tallied his team-leading 13th goal and added an assist in a two-point effort. Defenseman Dmitry Osipov earned his first assist as a Utica Comet after coming over in a trade for Jace Isley in November. Osipov is a bruising 28-year-old AHL veteran, who has not yet played in the NHL per Elite Prospects.
• Center Matyas Melovsky is the first Devils prospect to forty points this season, potting twelve goals and twenty-eight assists in his first twenty-nine games for Baie-Comeau of the QMJHL. Last week’s spotlight, Cam Squires, is catching up though and is now only three points behind Melovsky. UPDATE: Melovsky added another five points this weekend and has widened the gap over Cam Squires to four.
• Russian winger Arseni Gritsyuk hit the 30 point mark with 32 points in 39 games in the much-tougher KHL, three off the team lead. The Devils will likely have to wait until next season at the earliest to see Gritsyuk though, as the KHL seems to have recently changed their contract rules. This article by Jon Baily explains the believed change in context of Gritsyuk’s teammate Ivan Demidov. For those who do not wish to click on the link, here is the important information as posted by Frank Seravilli:

• Finnish winger Lenni Hameenaho remains on pace with Gritsyuk. His latest tally is absolutely sick.

• Josh Filmon has moved up to Adirondack’s second line and is starting to put some points on the board in recent games in the ECHL, including this one off the post. Hopefully, it’s a start to better things for the struggling winger. This page still has hope for Filmon’s long-term future, but it’s been a tough year, to put it mildly.

• Petr Hauser is on loan again and has returned to the top Czechia league for the rest of the season. Hopefully, Hauser will have a better opportunity on his new team.

• Russian defenseman Daniil Orlov continues to sneak under the radar and has been blazing hot as of late with 9 points in a span of 11 games. It’s hard to envision where the defender might fit on a future Devils team with their crowded blueline, but Orlov deserves to be in the conversation, at the very least. The Devils won’t have to worry about it this offseason though. Orlov is signed through 2026.

This was Orlov’s first goal from earlier in the season. The kid has a motor.

• Defenseman Charlie Leddy almost had his first goal for Quinnipiac, but a scoring change indicated it deflected off Jack Ricketts. Leddy has five assists in nineteen games this year. More known for his defensive play, Leddy, now a junior, hasn’t scored a goal since potting two in his freshman season for Boston College. Here’s a look at the play.

• Goaltender Veeti Louhivaara has won his first game of the season. Though the 1-5 record is not pretty, Louhivaara has respectable underlying numbers since suiting up for JYP U20 including a 2.85 GAA and ,912 SV%.
• Devils defenseman Santeri Hatakka may still be injured, but at least he has time to help plan the wedding. Congratulations to the happy couple.
• Lastly, some bad news for injured winger prospect Kasper Pikkarainen.

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