NHL teams are not waiting to get their business done while the Stanley Cup Final continues on, specifically the Columbus Blue Jackets. After acquiring Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the week, they completed a sign-and-trade with the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Damon Severson earlier this morning.
Severson, who would’ve been an unrestricted free agent come July 1, signed an eight-year deal at a cap hit of $6.25 million with the Blue Jackets. In exchange for Severson, the Blue Jackets gave up the third-round pick (80th overall) they acquired in the deal that sent Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Seattle Kraken last summer. How did each side fare in this trade? Let’s grade it out.
Blue Jackets Continue Defensive Overhaul
The Blue Jackets defense was among the worst in the NHL a season ago, so general manager Jarmo Kekalainen had his work cut out for him this offseason. They gave up quite a bit for Provorov, especially for someone who has struggled for some time. But in Severson, they’re getting a right-handed, top-four defenseman who should help their blue line quite a bit.
Though Severson is prone to mental gaffes defensively, he was one of the Devils’ best puck-moving defensemen in his time in New Jersey. He saw his role reduced this past season after GM Tom Fitzgerald acquired John Marino from the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer, but that benefited Severson. In third-pair minutes, he feasted offensively and finished with an expected goals percentage above 60 percent.
It’ll be interesting to see how Severson fares moving back into a top-four role, but he’s handled the minutes well before. With Dougie Hamilton missing significant time in 2021-22 due to a broken jaw, Severson logged top-pair minutes alongside Jonas Siegenthaler and fared quite well. Chances are he’ll get paired up alongside Zach Werenski in Columbus, but perhaps he’ll end up alongside Provorov and help him refind his game.
But regardless of who his defense partner is, the Blue Jackets needed puck-moving ability on their back end, and they’ll get that with Severson. They constantly got hemmed in the defensive zone because they didn’t have enough puck-movers defensively, so their defense should improve because of Severson’s passing:
As for the contract, Evolving-Hockey projected Severson to land a cap hit of $6.171 million over six years. On an eight-year deal, his cap hit would’ve been closer to $6.6 million, so the Blue Jackets got a bit of value in that sense.
Still, eight years is a bit of a risk for a defenseman like Severson. The contract probably won’t age well, but the Blue Jackets will deal with that when the time comes. They get an upgrade on defense in the immediate future, and Severson should provide value for at least the first half of that deal. All in all, a good bit of business by Kekalainen and an improvement on what he did in comparison to the Provorov deal.
Blue Jackets Grade: B+
Devils Add to Draft Pick Cupboard
The writing was on the wall for Severson as a Devil after they acquired Marino and drafted Šimon Nemec and Seamus Casey last summer. They weren’t going to re-sign him before July 1, and it became clear in the last week that they’d move on from him after Elliotte Friedman reported teams were calling the Devils about Severson’s negotiating rights.
A sign-and-trade didn’t seem all that likely, given how rare they are in the NHL, especially compared to the NBA. It’s hard to find a comp for the Devils’ return since sign-and-trades are so rare, but getting a third-round pick for a player you know wasn’t re-signing is a decent bit of business from Fitzgerald too.
The Devils did not have a third-round pick in the 2023 draft; they gave it up to acquire Marino last summer. The move now gives them six picks in the 2023 draft and only leaves them without a first, which they gave up for Timo Meier at the trade deadline. Considering it seems like Fitzgerald wants to acquire more picks for the upcoming draft, it’s hard to complain about adding a selection that’ll be in the top 80 of a strong draft class. He can either use it at the draft or in a hockey trade to improve the NHL roster.
Devils Grade: B+
More must-reads: