Should the New Jersey Devils replace injured Tomas Tatar with Seamus Casey?

The New Jersey Devils suffered another injury to their fourth line on Friday night. Tomas Tatar suffered a lower-body injury in the second period and did not return. He is the last player on a fourth line who tried to find his right place in the team.

Curtis Lazar will be out for a while and Nathan Bastian has already missed a few weeks. Bastian could return soon, but Lazar will be out for months. We don’t know much about what’s actually going on with Tatar, and we didn’t receive any reports until Saturday afternoon before the Washington Capitals game.

What would be the plan if Tatar is out for the long term? Is it really sustainable to release a line from Kurtis MacDermid, Justin Dowling and Nolan Foote in the long term? Tatar didn’t do that line particularly well, but he at least made it competitive. That’s not Foote’s game at this point in his career. Tatar is a veteran who can make the most of his minutes, and Keefe gave him a few extra shifts with other lines to give him a chance here or there.

It makes sense for the Devils, and Sheldon Keefe in particular, to get creative with how they can attack this roster going forward. Seamus Casey showed earlier this year that he can survive in the NHL. He did have some issues with wasting chances, but the Devils as a whole needed some time to come together. At the moment the strikers and defenders are playing incredibly well. So we would expect Casey to play better too.

The thing about Casey is that he was great offensively and his offensive prowess didn’t diminish even after he was demoted to the Utica Comets. Heading into Saturday night’s contest, Casey has 14 points in 12 games. He’s an NHL player who has no place left. Johnathan Kovacevic plays so well, he changed who gets to play in the NHL, and that’s why Simon Nemec plays in the AHL.

So why chose Casey over Nemec at this point in the year? Casey is better offensively and the Devils need an offensive spark when nothing is working. The Devils’ last four losses came by shutout. Honestly, it’s just weird at this point, but it’s something the Devils should consider in future moves.

We are not advocating a change of position for Casey. Instead, the Devils should consider going 11-7 on defense. We know this is often met with groans, and Sheldon Keefe hasn’t been a fan of this strategy in the past, but here in this very specific case it makes sense. Do the Devils want to hope for the best from a fourth line of MacDermid-Dowling-Foote, or would they rather split the 10 minutes they would give the third person on that line, Casey, and maybe a few double shifts for Jack Hughes or Jesper? Bratt?

It’s an interesting debate, and the Devils could look to bolster the fourth line, but until they add talent and players return, adding Casey to the roster is a smart move.