He looks to start a new legacy on Irish Broadway.
About 24 hours before he was traded to the Blue Jackets, there was a rumor that Columbus had called about the defenseman, and where there's smoke, there's usually fire.
On June 9th, a sign-and-trade was completed with the New Jersey Devils to acquire Damon Severson. The Blue Jackets sent a third-round pick back to New Jersey for the right to negotiate a new contract. Severson would agree to an 8-year, $50 million contract, which carries an average AAV of $6.25 million per season. GM Jarmo Kekalainen said during the presser introducing Severson that the 29-year-old defenseman was the top blue liner on the Jacket's wish list.
Just a few days before that, the Jackets traded for Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov, and with that, the CBJ summer was off to a hot start. Adding Severson and Provorov dramatically changed the Blue Jacket blue line. And it's possible they're not done, as they have an abundance of defensemen.
During Severson's nine seasons in New Jersey, he played 647 games. Averaging over 21 minutes of ice time a night, he was leaned on heavily during his years in Jersey. During the 21-22 season, he played over 23 minutes a game, but then it dipped below 20 minutes last season. That put him fourth among Devils defensemen.
In terms of points production, he has 58 goals and 263 points in his career. He has scored 11 goals twice in his career and set his career high in assists(35) and points in 2021-22 with 46.
45 of his career goals have come at even strength, while 139 of his assists have been while playing even. On the powerplay, he sits at 12 goals and 75 points.
Severson is known more as an offensive defenseman, but if he is paired with Zach Werenski, he will most likely be relied on as the one on the pair who is playing the bigger defensive role. That's a role he can play if needed. He has 653 blocks in his career, averaging 72.5 a season. He set a career record last season with 115 blocks. His giveaways went down to 41 last season, 12 below his season average.
For his career, he's averaging around 6 goals a season. He should easily be able to hit that. He's also averaging around 23 assists per season, which I expect him to hit. So, right around 30 points is what we could expect from him in his first season. Playing alongside Werenski will probably see his point totals dip a little, but it's in the defensive game where he'll be needed the most. As the season goes on, Severson will most likely slide up and down the pairings as needed. If Adam Boqvist is still around, I could see both he and Severson splitting time playing with Werenski.
Damon Severson played through the Devil's rebuild and came out of the other side on a winning team. He brings an experience that no other Blue Jacket brings, and that's staying through a rebuild and getting better in the process. This young team should pick Severson's brain and learn from him. As a 9-year vet, he has a ton of experience compared to some of the other guys. Whether they play on offense or defense, everyone can gain from his experience.
Severson is going to be a valuable piece of this puzzle, no doubt.
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