The Columbus Blue Jackets continued to restructure their defensive core on Friday, making their second big trade of the week.
The New Jersey Devils are sending right shot defenseman Damon Severson to Columbus in a sign-and-trade deal. Severson, who was a pending unrestricted free agent after finishing his 6 year $25 million contract, signed an 8 year deal worth a reported $50 Million ($6.25 Million AAV). New Jersey was the only team that could offer Severson the 8th year on the deal, so agreeing to the sign and trade gives him an extra year of contract security.
The 6’2” defenseman had a career season in 2021-22, tallying 11 goals and 46 points in 80 games, and had another strong season in 2022-23. He totaled 7 goals and 33 points in 81 games in 2022-23 while skating 19:57 per night, adding 1 goal and 3 points in 12 playoff games before the Devils were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2nd round. While the extension is a big commitment from the Blue Jackets, the reported cost of the trade itself was only a 3rd round pick (80th overall).
🚨 WE’VE GOT A TRADE TO ANNOUNCE 🚨
The Devils send Damon Severson to the Blue Jackets in a sign-and-trade …
The pending UFA gets 8 years, $6.25M per and will be joining Columbus’ blue line pic.twitter.com/8mY7RrsBwA
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 9, 2023
GM Jarmo Kekalainen isn’t afraid to pick up the phone and swing trades, as this was the second major trade he made this week to address the team’s dismal defensive performance in 2022-23. On Tuesday, Kekalainen was a part of a 3 team deal with the Los Angeles King and the Philadelphia Flyers that landed the Blue Jackets left handed defenseman Ivan Provorov. Columbus is also expected to hire former Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock as their new head coach once his contract in Toronto officially runs out. Kekalainen is making it clear that he isn’t happy with the team’s 31st place finish in the NHL last season where they tallied only 25 wins and 59 points.
It’s still up for debate as to whether the roster construction validates these types of win now moves in Columbus, as the team still has work to do in order to return to playoff contention. But the defensive core is starting to take shape with Severson and Provorov joining a (hopefully) healthy Zach Werenski and top defensive prospect David Jiricek.
The addition of Johnny Gaurdreau last offseason helped bolster the team’s offense, and Columbus will add a high impact prospect again this year with the 3rd overall pick. Hopefully adding to what is already one of the deepest prospect pools in the league.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Lisa Gansky. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.