Cassels is a good two-way pivot who thinks the game well. His skating is average, but he does get up and down the ice fairly quickly. He makes the appropriate cuts at the right times and takes solid angles to the puck. He needs to move his feet more consistently, as he sometimes appeared to just be gliding into position. A decent stickhandler, Cassels seemed to lack a bit of creativity at times. He’s capable of skillfully shielding puck from opponent along the boards at times, using his decent sized frame to his advantage. He’s considered more of playmaker than scorer, passes very well, has decent vision and plays the point on the power play with a decent amount of confidence and creativity. He’s hesitant to shoot the puck but shouldn’t as he has a decent slap shot. Cassels likes to throw his body around, often ensuring he finishes his forechecking efforts by making solid body contact on the opposition. He’s shown a willingness to drop the gloves when needed and handles himself better than one might expect. He blocks shots and get his stick into lanes defensively but there has been some problems with consistency of effort this season. (May 2013)