The Columbus Blue Jackets continue to load up on defenceman. First, they acquire Ivan Provorv from the Philadelphia Flyers. Now as part of the second sign and trade in NHL history, the Blue Jackets acquire defenceman Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils.
Damon Severson is joining the #CBJ in a sign-and-trade with #NJDevils after agreeing to an eight-year contract, per sources.
Another pending UFA comes off CJ's Big Board.@NorthStarBet @TSNHockey @sdpnsports
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 9, 2023
Severson will sign an eight-year extension with the Blue Jackets that carries a salary cap hit of $6.25 million.
Damon Severson and NJ are working on a sign and trade to Columbus. 8x$6.25M
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 9, 2023
He will also get a $10.8 million signing bonus as well.
$10.8M in bonuses for Severson, who was the longest-serving Devil
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 9, 2023
UFA RD Severson 8 year $6.25M Cap Hit #NJDevils #CBJ
Yr 1/2: 6M Salary 2M SB
Yr 3: 5.5M & 2M SB
Yr 4: 4.1M & 2M SB
Yr 5: 3.3M & 1.8M SB
Yr 6: 4.1M & 1M SB
Yr 7/8: 5.1MYr 1-4 No Trade, Yr 5 20 team, Yr 6-8 12 team
Rep'd by Jason Davidson @tcnewsfeedhttps://t.co/q9OjC8owOd https://t.co/eNcEU50ycu
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) June 9, 2023
The annual average value Severson is receiving from the Blue Jackets is around what Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli projected Severson would get on the open market as the Devils were not going to re-sign the defenceman.
Let's project new contracts for the Top 50 Free Agents with help from @AFPAnalytics.
1. #njdevils Severson: 6 x $6.1m
2. #nhlbruins Bertuzzi: 5 x $5.25m
–
5. #leafsforever Bunting: 5 x ??Fresh @DailyFaceoff Top 50 with playoff impacts noted:https://t.co/F07boiiTJV
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 23, 2023
As part of the deal, the Devils get a 2023 third-round pick that Blue Jackets got from Calgary.
NJ receives a 2023 third-rounder from Columbus (that’s the one from Calgary).
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 9, 2023
#njdevils are receiving a 2023 3rd round pick (Calgary's) in exchange for facilitating the sign and trade of Severson.
Currently slated to be No. 80 overall. #CBJ got Calgary pick via #SeaKraken.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 9, 2023
So part of the return in the Oliver Bjorkstrand trade helped land Damon Severson. #CBJ
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) June 9, 2023
Recall, Elliotte Friedman had linked Severson to the Blue Jackets. Columbus had been calling about Damon Severson before the Provorov trade. Many thought the deal for Provorov would take them out of the running for Severson. It did not.
Friedman on 32TP says CBJ called the Devils asking about Damon Severson, they were out looking for D with term eventually they ended up with Provorov. Also there were rumours out there connecting them to Orlov, Jarmo is being aggressive in his pursuit of defencemen.
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) June 7, 2023
The Blue Jackets were one of the worst teams defensively last season. The addition of Severson and Provorov will help. Not to mention the addition of Mike Babcock as head coach.
Severson was the longest-tenured member of the New Jersey Devils. The 60th overall pick from the 2012 NHL Draft recorded 263 points (58 goals and 205 assists) in 647 games with the Devils. In addition, Severson made the playoffs twice the Devils once in 2018 and again in 2023. For his career in the playoffs, he recorded three points (one goal and two assists).
Severson was an unrestricted free agent this summer and was not coming back to the Devils with the emergence of Luke Hughes and 2022 second-overall pick Simon Nemec coming up in the system.
Damon Severson signs with #CBJ
His offense has been up-and-down over the years. Expect more of the same in Columbus with other capable offensive defensemen and some high-end prospects in the mix.https://t.co/zeHSLpgTJG pic.twitter.com/RZ9u0yRv1l
— Frozen Tools (@FrozenTools) June 9, 2023
With the addition of Dougie Hamilton and John Marino, Severson slid to the third pairing in New Jersey. He was not going to get back to those top four minutes and even saw his power play decrease.
In Columbus, he gets a fresh start. Again Columbus was looking for puck-moving defenceman and Severson can do that.
Columbus makes a big splash with Damon Severson, paying him like a top pair defenseman with eight years of term. He's an underrated player now, but he's now far from an underpaid one. pic.twitter.com/ePEy3606Qn
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) June 9, 2023
Here's Severson's microstats card from 2022-23, data courtesy of AllThreeZones. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/J0LoRYtchT
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 9, 2023
The jump in offensive shot generation is a little sudden but Damon Severson is a very strong all-around defender. pic.twitter.com/5PhDmbajgZ
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 9, 2023
The Blue Jackets needed to sure up the right side of their defense and they did that with the Severson trade as the future is bright in Columbus.
Peer into the future for #CBJ Top 4 👀
Werenski-Severson
Provorov-JiricekAmong the class defense corps of the #NHL now with Gudbranson, Peeke and Boqvist rounding out the group.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 9, 2023