Casey DeSmith

Casey DeSmith grew up in Rochester, New Hampshire, went undrafted, and took a path to the NHL that wound through college, legal trouble, the ECHL, and the AHL before he ever appeared in an NHL game. That journey, spanning nearly a decade from amateur hockey to a stable NHL career, is the foundation of a story that now includes 220 career regular-season games and counting.

DeSmith played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire before legal problems cut that career short. He resurfaced in 2015 with the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, where he performed well enough to earn a loan to the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. That performance led to a full AHL contract in the summer of 2016. His 2016–17 AHL season was strong enough to earn him a spot on the AHL's All-Rookie Team and a share of the Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award, given to the AHL's top goaltender. He also set the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton franchise record for most saves in a playoff game. Pittsburgh signed him to an NHL contract in July 2017.

His NHL debut came in 2017–18, when he appeared in 14 games for the Penguins, posting a 2.40 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. That season remains his lowest career GAA in any NHL campaign. The following year, 2018–19, he took on a heavier load — 36 games, 15 wins, a .916 save percentage — establishing himself as a reliable presence in Pittsburgh's rotation alongside Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry. When Murray was traded in 2020, DeSmith became a fixture in the Penguins' crease.

He skipped the 2019–20 NHL season, spending it in the AHL, but returned for the shortened 2020–21 campaign and went 11–7 with a 2.54 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 20 games. Over the next two seasons in Pittsburgh — 26 games in 2021–22 and 38 in 2022–23 — he accumulated three shutouts in the former and posted a career-high 38 appearances in the latter. His time with the Penguins across five NHL seasons totaled 134 games, 58 wins, and 9 shutouts.

After two trades in the summer of 2023, DeSmith landed with the Vancouver Canucks, where he played 29 games in 2023–24, going 12–9. His time in Vancouver included work with goalie coach Ian Clark, whose influence on DeSmith's positioning — particularly his entry depth and his inside edge alignment at the post — he has since described in detail ^{[1] [2]}.

DeSmith signed a three-year, $3-million free agent deal with the Dallas Stars ahead of the 2024–25 season — $3 million total, not per season, as noted in InGoal's Pro Reads coverage ^[3]. In his first season with Dallas, he went 14–8 with a 2.59 GAA and a .915 save percentage across 27 games, recording 2 shutouts. Through the 2025–26 season, he has played 30 games for the Stars, going 15–8–6 with a 2.43 GAA, a .907 save percentage, and 1 shutout.

Across 220 career NHL regular-season games, DeSmith has 99 wins, 13 shutouts, a 2.74 career GAA, and a .910 career save percentage.

InGoal Magazine has covered Casey DeSmith in one podcast appearance, four Pro Reads, and one InGoal article.

DeSmith appeared on Episode 237 of the InGoal Radio Podcast to discuss his career and his approach to the position ^[4]. The tactical depth of that conversation set the stage for an extended Pro Reads series. In his first Pro Read ^[1], InGoal broke down a rush sequence against the Edmonton Oilers featuring Leon Draisaitl, with DeSmith walking through the entry-depth adjustments he made under Ian Clark in Vancouver and the concept of "motion" — a slight backward drift — that he picked up with the Penguins under then-goalie coach Mike Buckley. A second Pro Read ^[5] examined a cross-ice power-play sequence against the Seattle Kraken, with DeSmith explaining his decision-making when Eeli Tolvanen, a known one-timer threat, was positioned at the face-off dot. A third ^[3] covered a broken play against Edmonton's Vasily Podkolzin and a double-push lateral save on Evan Bouchard, with DeSmith detailing his philosophy on putting himself in position even when a play breaks down. A fourth Pro Read ^[2] returned to a Seattle Kraken power-play sequence, this time with Jordan Eberle near the goal line and a sauce pass to Tolvanen in the slot — and DeSmith explaining the 30-degree inside-edge alignment at the post that he credits to his time with the Canucks. All four Pro Reads are available to InGoal subscribers.

DeSmith also contributed to a 2026 InGoal article on how goalies manage the intensity of the playoffs without trying to do too much ^[6]. "Trying harder gets you in trouble," he told InGoal. "Tension is the enemy." He described what happens when a goalie squeezes too hard: "Our limbs are stiffer. I feel more tense and I feel stiff and as a result, rebounds get away from me. My hands aren't loose, so my hands aren't as good. We are staring down the puck, not taking in the full ice visually, so my reads aren't as good because I'm more focused because you are trying harder."