Casey Bailey (born October 27, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey player. He is currently playing with ERC Ingolstadt in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Bailey played college hockey with the Penn State Nittany Lions and is the first Penn State player to play in the NHL. Bailey played 13 games in the NHL for the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom he signed with out of college, and the Ottawa Senators.

Casey Bailey
Casey Bailey, 2022
Born (1991-10-27) October 27, 1991 (age 32)
Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Forward
Shoots Right
DEL team
Former teams
ERC Ingolstadt
Toronto Maple Leafs
Ottawa Senators
HC Slovan Bratislava
Växjö Lakers
Iserlohn Roosters
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2015–present

Playing career edit

As a youth, Bailey played in the 2004 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Alaska.[1] Bailey played junior A hockey for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the British Columbia Hockey League from 2009 to 2012 before going to play college hockey with the Penn State Nittany Lions.[2] In the 2014–15 junior season, he finished fourth in scoring within the Big Ten Conference. He finished his Penn State career with 45 goals and 80 points in 96 games.[3]

Having not been selected in any NHL Entry Drafts, Bailey signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 21, 2015.[3] He became the first Penn State player to sign an NHL contract, as well as the first to play in the NHL.[4][5] Fourteen other NHL teams had shown interest in Bailey and Bailey had previously attended training camps with the Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames.[6] Prior to signing, Bailey was negotiating an entry-level deal with the Buffalo Sabres, however, the Sabres were unwilling to meet Bailey's demands of playing in the final few games of the team's season, prompting the signing with Toronto.[7]

Bailey played in his first NHL game on March 26, 2015 versus the Florida Panthers and was on the ice for the Maple Leafs lone goal in a 4–1 loss.[8] Bailey scored his first NHL goal in the last game of his inaugural season, on April 11, 2015, against Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens.[9] During his first full professional season in 2015–16, Bailey was assigned to the Leafs' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, and produced 18 points in 38 contests before he was included alongside Dion Phaneuf in a nine-player trade to the Ottawa Senators organization on February 9, 2016.[10] Bailey finished the season with the Senators' AHL affiliate Binghamton Senators collecting 7 goals and 21 points in 30 games.[11]

On July 1, 2016, Bailey signed a one-year two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators.[11] He was invited to training camp but Bailey was assigned to Binghamton to start the 2016–17 season.[12] He was called up to Ottawa in December after Mike Hoffman was suspended and made his Ottawa debut on December 17 against the New Jersey Devils.[13] He was sent back down but recalled again in January when Ottawa was dealing with a flu problem amongst the regulars.[14] He finished the season with Binghamton, marking 21 goals and 37 points in 62 games and played in 7 games for Ottawa, going scoreless.[15] He was Binghamton's only representative at the 2017 AHL All-Star Classic.[16]

As a free agent from the Senators in the off-season, Bailey accepted an invitation to attend the New York Islanders 2017 training camp on September 12, 2017.[17] Following the conclusion of the camp with the Islanders, Bailey was not offered a contract but was reassigned to try-out with their AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on September 24, 2017.[18] After impressing in camp, Bailey was signed to a one-year AHL contract with the Sound Tigers on October 2, 2017.[15] He finished the season with 18 goals and 41 points with Bridgeport.[16]

Unable to attract significant high-level North American interest, Bailey opted to take his career overseas, signing with HC Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) on September 21, 2018.[19] In Slovan's last year in the KHL in 2018–19 season, Bailey was used in a bottom six checking role, contributing with just 1 goal and 5 points through 45 games.

Returning to North America as a free agent, Bailey was signed to a professional try-out (PTO) agreement with the Hershey Bears of the AHL on July 30, 2019.[16] After attending the Bears training camp, he was released from his tryout prior to the 2019–20 season. He then signed an ECHL contract with the Hershey Bears's affiliate, the South Carolina Stingrays.[20] Bailey added 11 points in just 9 games with the Stingrays before he was loaned to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL on a PTO on November 12, 2019.[21] Bailey contributed with 1 goal and 3 points in 5 games with the Checkers before he was released from his tryout on November 25, 2019.[22]

Having earlier secured a contract in Europe for the remainder of the 2019–20 season, Bailey was introduced on the same day on his release from the AHL by Swedish club Växjö Lakers of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).[23] Bailey made 28 appearances with Växjö, contributing offensively with 7 goals and 11 points, before the playoffs were abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On September 4, 2020, now a free agent from Växjö, Bailey remained in Europe, signing a one-year contract for the 2020–21 season with German club Iserlohn Roosters of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[24]

Following three seasons with Iserlohn, Bailey left the club at the conclusion of his contract and signed a one-year deal to continue in the DEL with ERC Ingolstadt on May 22, 2023.[25]

Personal life edit

Bailey was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to parents Glen and Dawn Bailey. He has one brother (Kyle Bailey) and a sister (Jessica Graham). At the time of his signing in Toronto, Bailey was working on earning a university degree in economics.[5]

Career statistics edit

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2009–10 Alberni Valley Bulldogs BCHL 51 13 11 24 43 13 0 2 2 2
2010–11 Alberni Valley Bulldogs BCHL 60 28 30 58 74 4 4 3 7 4
2011–12 Omaha Lancers USHL 60 27 33 60 83 4 2 2 4 6
2012–13 Penn State NCAA 27 14 13 27 34
2013–14 Penn State B1G 32 9 4 13 20
2014–15 Penn State B1G 37 22 18 40 37
2014–15 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 6 1 0 1 2
2015–16 Toronto Marlies AHL 38 4 14 18 16
2015–16 Binghamton Senators AHL 30 7 14 21 10
2016–17 Binghamton Senators AHL 62 21 16 37 20
2016–17 Ottawa Senators NHL 7 0 0 0 0
2017–18 Bridgeport Sound Tigers AHL 76 18 23 41 25
2018–19 HC Slovan Bratislava KHL 45 1 4 5 26
2019–20 South Carolina Stingrays ECHL 9 8 3 11 10
2019–20 Charlotte Checkers AHL 5 1 2 3 0
2019–20 Växjö Lakers SHL 28 7 4 11 30
2020–21 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 37 20 24 44 56 3 2 1 3 4
2021–22 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 50 23 18 41 28
2022–23 Iserlohn Roosters DEL 53 12 27 39 41
NHL totals 13 1 0 1 2
SHL totals 28 7 4 11 30

Awards and honors edit

Award Year
College
Big Ten Conference First All-Star Team 2015 [26]

References edit

  1. ^ "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019 – via www.publicationsports.com.
  2. ^ "BCHL: Bulldogs' trio commit to NCAA Div. 1 hockey teams". Alberni Valley News. December 29, 2011. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Maple Leafs sign free agent forward Casey Bailey". Toronto Maple Leafs. March 21, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015 – via NHL.com.
  4. ^ "Bailey signs with Maple Leafs". gopsusports.com. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Casey Bailey – 26/03/2015". Toronto Maple Leafs. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015 – via NHL.com.
  6. ^ "Person of Interest: Who is Casey Bailey?". Sportsnet. March 22, 2015. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  7. ^ "Maple Leafs sign college free-agent forward Casey Bailey". theScore. March 21, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  8. ^ Woody, Doyle (March 27, 2015). "The dream is real: Casey Bailey made his NHL debut". Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  9. ^ "Canadiens clinch Atlantic, top Maple Leafs in shootout". NHL. April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  10. ^ "Dion Phaneuf traded to Senators in 9-player deal". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Casey Bailey Signs a One-Year, Two-Way Contract" (Press release). Binghamton Senators. July 1, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  12. ^ Garrioch, Bruce (October 1, 2016). "This year, there won't be any second-guessing about starting O'Connor in opener". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  13. ^ Warren, Ken (December 17, 2016). "Ottawa Senators forward Casey Bailey makes debut with team". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  14. ^ Garrioch, Bruce (January 24, 2017). "Ottawa Senators battling flu bug ahead of game with Washington Capitals". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Sound Tigers add scoring punch with Casey Bailey". Bridgeport Sound Tigers. October 2, 2017. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  16. ^ a b c "Bears sign Penn State product Casey Bailey to PTO". Hershey Bears. July 30, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  17. ^ "Sound Tigers sign four, Captain on tryout". CTPost.com. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  18. ^ "Islanders' trim training camp roster to 31". New York Islanders. September 24, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017 – via NHL.com.
  19. ^ "Casey Bailey posilou ofenzívy slovana" [Casey Bailey Will Strengthen Slovan's Offense] (in Slovak). HC Slovan Bratislava. September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  20. ^ "Stingrays Sign Former NHL Forward Casey Bailey". South Carolina Stingrays. October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  21. ^ "Hurricanes assign Luostarinen to Charlotte". Charlotte Checkers. November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  22. ^ "Checkers release Casey Bailey from PTO". Charlotte Checkers. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  23. ^ "American Casey Bailey signs with Vaxjo Lakers" (in Swedish). Växjö Lakers. November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  24. ^ "Casey Bailey moves to the Seilersee" (in German). Iserlohn Roosters. September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  25. ^ "ERC sign top forward Casey Bailey" (in German). ERC Ingolstadt. May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  26. ^ "Guy Gadowksi, Casey Bailey earn Big Ten honors". blackshoediaries.com. March 16, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.

External links edit