The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that defenseman Damon Severson is expected to miss around six weeks with an oblique injury.
Severson, 29, suffered the injury early in the second period of Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. The injury is believed to have occurred when he dove to keep the puck in the offensive zone on the power play, which led to a shorthanded two-on-zero chance that created the 3-1 goal for Philadelphia. Severson did not return to the game after that incident. He finished with one hit in 9:57 of ice time as the Blue Jackets went on to lose the game 5-2.
Severson is off to a productive start to his Blue Jackets career, with three goals and five assists for eight points in 18 games so far this season. He’s one of the best defensemen in the league at generating offensive chances, with a 2.9 5v5 expected goals for per 60 minutes that ranks sixth among defensemen with 4000 minutes played since 2021.
Severson was a former second-round pick of the New Jersey Devils in the 2012 NHL Draft and spent parts of nine seasons in New Jersey before his unrestricted free agency rights were dealt to the Blue Jackets in the 2023 offseason. He then signed an eight-year contract with a $6.25M cap hit with Columbus before the July 1 free agency period began.
The Blue Jackets had seven defensemen in the lineup for Sunday’s game to allow them to healthy scratch winger Patrik Laine, so they will likely just return to a 12-forward, six-defensemen lineup and have Adam Boqvist permanently in the lineup for the time being.
Severson’s unofficial defense partner for Sunday’s game, Ivan Provorov, saw plenty of ice time with David Jiricek after Severson’s injury, so the Blue Jackets may return to that pairing in his absence from the lineup. Provorov and Jiricek have outscored opponents 6-5 and have a 47.52% 5v5 expected goal share in 116:24 of ice time together this season.
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