One of the biggest issues the New Jersey Devils faced this offseason was re-signing Damon Severson. As an RFA the question wasn’t as much about if it would get done, but more about when and the terms.
Damon Severson and the New Jersey Devils agreed to a six-year contract. He’s set to make $4.166 million per year. This is an absolute steal for the Devils.
#Devils signing Damon Severson at a $4.167M cap hit, leaves the team
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) September 11, 2017
10.367M in projected cap space with 21 players + 2 IR (Clowe, Zajac). pic.twitter.com/ZsCL0J1c2F
Severson and the Devils agreed to a six-year contract with an AAV of $4.166 million per year. This is an absolute steal for the Devils. Severson is an underrated defenseman and will be a staple in the Devils top four for at least the next six years now. The expectation was that because of the length of time it took to come to an agreement, that it would be a long term dealthankfully that was the case.
Comparable Deals
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Comparatively Jaccob Slavin signed a 7 year contract with an AAV of $5.3 million with the Carolina Hurricanes and Tyson Barrie signed a 4 year extension with an AAV of $5.5 million with the Colorado Avalanche last year.
Severson had three goals and 28 assists for New Jersey last year. He’s averaging 20:21 ice time per game. I would expect his numbers to continue to improve and we will likely see him on the top pair with Andy Greene this year.
Severson may never be a true top 2 defenseman, but this is an extremely good deal for New Jersey. With a cap hit of just $4.1 million, Severson just needs to play at the level of a top-four defenseman to earn his contract.
Severson is only 23 years old. He will be just 29 years old at the end of the deal. The Devils certainly have a long way to turn this defensive core around. Re-signing Severson is a huge step in the right direction. With up and comers Steven Santini, Will Butcher, Michael Kapla, Mirco Mueller, and Yaroslav Dyblenko, the Devils now have the cornerstone of their defense locked up for the next 6 years.