Hockey

Michigan Hockey lost another impactful piece today, as defenseman Seamus Casey signed an Entry Level Contract with the New Jersey Devils: 

Best of luck Seamus Casey and thank you for all you've given to Michigan Hockey#GoBlue〽️ ➡️ #ProBlue pic.twitter.com/PI4qnQkc7F

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) May 6, 2024

Casey was not featured in Peter's wrap-up exit piece a few weeks back, so I figured we ought to give him one here. Casey came to Michigan from the USNTDP, a native of South Florida born in Miami and raised in Fort Myers. He was drafted 46th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft by the Devils, an intriguing mix of skill and skating ability with the drawback being his small frame and inconsistencies defensively. The scouting report that we were handed by the NHL Draft scouts that summer more or less came to fruition, as Casey was exactly that for the Wolverines. 

Over two seasons in the Maize & Blue, Casey was a consistently high scoring defenseman. As a freshman in 2022-23, he was second to fiddle to Luke Hughes when it came to ice time and power play opportunities, but Casey still found ways to rack up points, scoring eight goals and 29 points in 37 games. The breathtaking skill (hands especially) that is so rare for a defenseman was on display in the biggest stage that the team played on last season: 

After Hughes departed for the NHL, Casey returned for his sophomore season and inherited those increased responsibilities. As the point man on Michigan's historically great power play, Casey probably had the biggest hand of anybody not named Brandon Naurato when it came to getting the PP to exceptional levels. Casey was a wizard with his dekes, fakes, and edge-work at the blue line, a master at beating the high forward through his deception and general slipperiness, creating numbers advantages for Michigan down low, which they exploited countless times. At 5v5 he was also impactful, a puck-rushing defenseman who helped create offense at an exceptionally high level. He was reunited with USNTDP defense partner Tyler Duke, who had transferred in from Ohio State, and those two formed a solid pair for the Wolverines, one that was sometimes liable to having its lack of size and strong defensive ability exploited but they normally won their minutes. 

All in all, Casey scored 45 points in 40 games this past season earning All-B1G First Team and All-American honors. He was one of the highest scoring defenseman in the NCAA and helped get Michigan in position to make a second Frozen Four with him on the roster, even if he was unable to play in the decisive game against Michigan State due to injury. Signing with the Devils, Casey will likely start next season with the Utica Comets of the AHL. The New Jersey Devils had a deeply disappointing season and already have three right-shot defensemen on the roster when fully healthy (Dougie Hamilton, Šimon Nemec, and John Marino), not to mention two very young defenders (Nemec and Hughes). I doubt that promoting another offense-first defenseman under the age of 22 (who is also right handed) is the solution they are looking for to get the franchise back into the postseason. Thus he will probably simmer for some time in the AHL before a position on the NHL roster can open up. 

As for Michigan, it is an unfortunate blow, but not one they were necessarily ill-prepared for. The team is returning Ethan Edwards, Tyler Duke, and Jacob Truscott from last season's top five defensemen group and are adding in elite transfer Tim Lovell (Arizona State). That gives them a rock solid top four and then have the option to either add another transfer or rely on an expansive freshman class of defensemen to fill the other holes (Luca Fantilli is also still around). Among the incoming freshmen include puck-moving RHD (who could be a Casey replacement) Gennadi Chaly, big and defensive RHD Hunter Hady, solid USNTDP LHD Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen, and undersized USHL LHD Jack Willson. Casey will certainly leave a void in the team's offensive output but the combination of having a core group of established college players returning on defense and bringing in a deep and versatile freshman class means that Brandon Naurato shouldn't have too much trouble fielding a solid blue line in 2024-25. 

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Previously: Part 1

Yesterday we began our sprawling update on all former Michigan Hockey players currently playing pro hockey around the world. In Part 1 we covered the firmly established, everyday NHLers with name-brand value. Today is the more odd-ball sequel piece, where we check in on our recently departed alums, those who have retired since the 2022 update article, and all the minor league/international players, so buckle in: 

Young guys finding their way

This category is for the players who have left Michigan since the last article and haven't yet developed in the NHL to the point that they fit into one of the yesterday categories the way Beniers and Power already have: 

Gavin Brindley/Frank Nazar III/Dylan Duke: The recent signees only got into a couple games at the NHL/AHL level before the season concluded, given that Michigan's campaign went into mid-April yet again. Check back next year. 

Johnny Beecher, C, Boston Bruins: After spending a season in the AHL, Johnny Beecher finally got his crack at the NHL this season and carved out a role as a pretty generic 4th line center and penalty killer for a good Boston team. Then, in the first game of the playoffs, he scored the series opening goal against Toronto. Only seven goals and ten points in 52 games is indicative of a player who's probably never going to score much in the NHL but if Beecher can continue to hone his skills in the faceoff dot and on the penalty kill, he can perhaps grow into a Luke Glendening type career. 

Thomas Bordelau, C, San Jose Sharks: Bordeleau has played a couple seasons now in the AHL with good production and has been looking for his first full-time gig in the NHL. 27 games towards the end of this past season in San Jose was the closest he's gotten to that. Bordeleau chipped in 6 goals, most effective on the power play, during his short trial this season on a godawful Sharks team. I don't think Bordeleau has big time upside, but his faceoff abilities and skill should allow him to be a 3rd line center and hopefully he'll get a real shot to prove that next season, as he's still only 22. 

[James Coller]

Kent Johnson, F, Columbus Blue Jackets: The first of our three Columbus players in this category, KJ has had to endure the bizarre saga that is the Blue Jackets franchise, a team that fired its coach before the season started and then canned its GM midseason, while a series of embarrassing headlines continue to plague the franchise. Johnson was caught up in that, as there seems to be some conflict between the player and the team. When he's played in the NHL, his ice time has been very limited, and they sent him down to the AHL this season even though he scored 40 points in the NHL last season. Johnson put up 15 points in 10 games in the AHL, making it pretty clear that sending him down was worthless. 

I continue to be befuddled by what's going on here, as Johnson has been an okay player at the NHL level. One with flaws yes, but he needs ice time to iron out those flaws. Plus, it's not like the Jackets are a team that is so good they can't give out ice time to young players anyway. If the Blue Jackets aren't going to give it to him for whatever reason, they should do right by the player and trade him to a new team. Hopefully new management in Columbus will resolve this situation and get him back on a developmental track, because this season was a fork in the road for Johnson, with only 16 points in 42 games, receiving under 14 minutes per game on ice. 

Adam Fantilli, C, Columbus Blue Jackets: Fantilli has mostly been spared the buffoonery of Columbus, but his rookie year was unfortunately hampered by injury. He played only 49 games due to multiple ailments, scoring a decent 27 points on a pretty bad Jackets team. Fantilli played this season at 19, so there's really no cause for alarm there. Next season, if he stays healthy, should see Fantilli begin an ascension to being a top line centerman in the NHL and maybe with it, he can lead Columbus out of the cartoonish ineptitude that has submarined the team basically since inception. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: increasingly obscure players]

It's been a couple years since I last wrote a "Wolverines in the NHL" update. David and I have done a segment during the season on the HockeyCast devoted to it the last couple years, but a written piece can have a wider reach and can also be more expansive. Also, since the NHL regular season recently ended, I figured this was a proper time to do it, rather than in the middle of the season like our podcast segment. With the recent explosion of Michigan players heading to professional hockey, this year's update is longer than ever, so it's being broken into two pieces. Today is Part 1, where we'll cover the established NHLers, the studs, complementary players, and role players. Tomorrow will be updates on the younger NHLers, recent retirees, and all the alumni who have fallen short of the NHL but are still playing pro hockey somewhere in the world: 

The Studs

These are the players who are considered high end, All-Star caliber. They are one of the three or so best players on their given teams and are getting paid premium money in the NHL:

Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks: Already the best defenseman from the University of Michigan to ever play in the NHL, Hughes is likely to set a new milestone (when the awards are announced in June), becoming the first Michigan alumni to ever win the Norris Trophy for the NHL's best defenseman. Michigan State (Duncan Keith), Harvard (Adam Fox), UMass (Cale Makar), Bowling Green (Rob Blake), Boston College (Brian Leetch), and Wisconsin (Chris Chelios) have all produced a Norris winner... it's about time that Michigan got one. Hughes is likely to do it, the capstone of a marvelous season that saw him score 17 goals and 75 assists for 92 points, leading the NHL in the latter two categories for defensemen (he was tied for 6th with 17 goals by a D). 

Hughes became one of 12 defensemen in NHL history to ever score 90+ points in a season, which is what will likely cement his Norris case. Hughes is the engine for everything that the resurgent Vancouver Canucks do, helping the team win their division for the first time in nearly a decade. He's a dynamic offensive force and a puck possession monster who drives play over all 200 feet, which allowed the Canucks to outscore opponents 92-55 with Hughes on ice at 5v5 this regular season(!!). A brilliant passer who has evolved significantly as a shooter and defender during his NHL career, Hughes is a no doubt top five defenseman in the NHL during his age 24 season. 

Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings: Few players in the NHL may be as linked to their team's wins and losses as Dylan Larkin is to the Red Wings. Anyone who followed Detroit's season knows that, a team that seemed to be headed to the postseason before an injury to Larkin in March submarined their season. The team looked almost unrecognizable without Larkin and it's not surprising why that's the case. The Red Wings captain potted 33 goals this season, the best goals-per-game mark of his career (coming in just 68 games). He also finished above 1.00 points-per-game this season for the first time in his career, probably reaching his apex at 27 and that's fine. Larkin's a very good NHL player, an important leader off the ice and a speedy playdriver with good offensive talent on the ice, playing a premium position with legit finishing talent. Though perhaps not a superstar of the Quinn Hughes variety, there are no teams in the NHL that would turn down the opportunity to put Larkin on their roster. 

[Bill Rapai]

Zach Hyman, LW, Edmonton Oilers: I listed Hyman as a complementary piece the last time I did this article, which is still probably true in the abstract (in the sense that he complements his team's superstars), but when you score 54 goals, you have to go in the stud category. That's what Hyman did this season, blowing by his career high goal total by a full 18 goals en route to a staggering total that ranked 3rd in the NHL The three seasons since Hyman signed in Edmonton has seen his goal total increase in linear fashion, from 27 to 36 to 54, this season being the apex of the 31-year-old's career. Hyman is simply the perfect fit to play alongside the NHL's best offensive player, Connor McDavid. He posts up around the net and gets fed the puck, shots in tight, tips, deflections. Very few of Hyman's 54 goals have come outside of ~5 feet from the crease, with 15 of his goals coming on Edmonton's devastating power play. It may be true that Hyman wouldn't score that many goals on a team sans McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but the skill and hockey talent of Hyman is now undeniable. He's a really good NHL forward. 

Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets: Two years ago when I wrote this piece Connor was coming off of a season akin to what Hyman has done this season, scoring 47 goals for the Winnipeg Jets. His two seasons in the meantime have fallen short of that mark but Connor remains a high level NHL goalscorer. Connor has now played seven real NHL seasons and has scored 30 goals or at a 30+ goal pace (in the case of the 56 game COVID shortened season) in all seven of them. He remains a pretty nonexistent defensive player, instead a one-dimensional rush scorer but when you average ~38 goals per 82 games over a seven season period, it doesn't much matter what else you do. You're a legit stud. 

Zach Werenski, D, Columbus Blue Jackets: Not a ton has changed for Werenski since the last time we updated this article. He remains a very good offensive defenseman, scoring 57 points this season (ranking 12th in the NHL by a defender) in 70 games. This was the most games that Werenski has played in a season since 2018-19, as injuries continue to minorly hamper him, but his play remains pretty consistent. Werenski plays on a bad team, puts up a good number of points, generally wins his minutes, and collects a huge paycheck (still earning $9.5 M annually, near the top in the league). Werenski's not an elite defenseman, but he's a good top pairing puck mover. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: more players]