Casey DeSmith

Casey DeSmith (born August 13, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He holds the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins record for most saves in a playoff game.

DeSmith played junior hockey in the NEPSAC league for Berwick Academy from 2006 to 2008.

After one season with Deerfield Academy, he joined the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League, where he earned a 0.911 save percentage, a 2.80 GAA, and three shutouts in 64 regular season games.

DeSmith studied business at the University of New Hampshire, where he played hockey for the Wildcats from 2011 to 2014.

In his first season, he compiled a 9–10–1 overall record.

He earned his first college career shutout on January 11, 2011.

At the end of his first season, DeSmith had a 2.33 goals against average while earning a .926 save percentage.

He recorded 30 or more saves on 10 separate occasions throughout the regular season.

DeSmith was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week for the week of January 11, and Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week for the week of February 6.

He was also twice honored as the Service Credit Union Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of February 13, and for the week of March 5.

At the end of the 2011–12 season DeSmith was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team.

He had a career-high 50 saves in the Hockey East quarterfinals against Boston University on March 11, 2012.

In September 2014, DeSmith was arrested for assaulting a woman who either was or had formerly been his girlfriend.

He was suspended from the team immediately after his arrest, and he eventually was permanently dismissed.

DeSmith accepted a plea bargain on December 4, 2014.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges against him (including domestic abuse) with the exception of a single count of disorderly conduct.

Under New Hampshire law, "disorderly conduct" is considered a violation rather than a misdemeanor.

He was sentenced to a $124 fine and 12 months of probation.

He also signed a diversion agreement that included community service, which would lead to all charges being formally dismissed after 12 months.

DeSmith met the terms of his plea bargain and stayed out of further trouble.

He was never reinstated as a player for the Wildcats, although he continued to be enrolled as a student, and he did not play anywhere else all season.

DeSmith applied for a waiver transfer, so he could play for another school, but the NCAA denied his request.

According to DeSmith, several other schools were interested in him.

Undrafted and regarded as undersized for a goaltender, he signed with the Wheeling Nailers, the ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, in 2015 after his college career at the University of New Hampshire was halted due to legal problems.

On June 30, 2015, DeSmith signed a contract for the 2015–16 season with an ECHL team, the Wheeling Nailers, after the NCAA denied a transfer waiver to play a senior season of college ice hockey.

He would have been ineligible to play college ice hockey after the 2015–16 season, because the NCAA normally only allows student-athletes five academic years to use up their standard four seasons of eligibility.

DeSmith would appear in just 13 games with the Nailers' 2015–16 Eastern Conference championship team, posting a 5–2–2 record, a 2.55 goals against average, and a .915 save percentage.

He played his first game for the WBS Penguins on December 26, 2015, against the Hershey Bears, stopping all seven shots he faced during his 20 minutes of play.

He earned his first win in his first career AHL start on January 3, against the Hartford Wolf Pack, stopping 22 of 24 shots.

DeSmith started the three final games of the 2015–16 AHL season.

DeSmith was named to the AHL's 2016–17 All-Rookie Team and was a co-recipient of the 2017 Harry "Hap" Holmes Memorial Award.

After performing well both in Wheeling and while being loaned to the American Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins later that season, he earned a promotion by signing an AHL contract in the summer of 2016.

After recording a league-best statistical performance 2016–17 AHL season, he signed a contract with Pittsburgh in July 2017, where he would play for the NHL squad for five of the next six seasons.

On January 3, 2016, DeSmith was loaned to the Nailers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

He got his first shutout on April 1, 2017, making twenty-six saves against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

DeSmith at first competed with Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray for NHL playing time; he spent the 2019–20 season in the AHL.

He became a permanent part of the Penguins' goaltender rotation after Murray was traded in 2020.

In the 2023 off-season, the Penguins traded DeSmith to the Montreal Canadiens in a three-team trade also involving the San Jose Sharks.

DeSmith would not play for Montreal, who traded him to the Canucks before the start of the 2023–24 season.