NEWARK, N.J. -- New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced he has signed and traded defenseman Damon Severson to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft (originally Calgary's selection acquired by Columbus via Seattle, 80th overall).
The 28-year-old signed an eight-year contract worth $50 million with a cap hit of $6.25 million. Severson is the second defenseman the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired this week. On June 6, they acquired Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Severson was the longest-tenured player on New Jersey's roster this past season. He has appeared in 647 NHL games and has 263 points (58 goals, 205 assists). The Devils drafted the Melville, Saskatchewan native in 2012 with their 60th overall pick.
During his end-of-season media availability, Severson spoke about his pending free agency.
"(Fitzgerald) has a lot of work to do with contracts and that's part of the business but that's not for me to worry about. I got a lot of good buddies on this team and a few are RFAs and some of them have contracts, some of them don't. It's all part of the business. We're all excited to see what happens and whether we're all on the same team again or not, that's to be seen, but we're all just kind of looking forward to the process and see how it all plays out."
This marks the second sign-and-trade in NHL history. The first was Matthew Tkachuk’s trade to the Florida Panthers last summer.