It’s time to say goodbye to the former longest-tenured Devil. The New Jersey Devils announced a sign-and-trade deal to send defenseman Damon Severson to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday morning. NJ signed the agreement, giving him an eight-year extension with an AVV of $6.25 million and a $10.8 million bonus. Severson has been with the Devils for nine years, who started during the 2014-15 season. Severson has a fascinating timeline in his time with NJ, which has had a lot of ups and downs.
2014-2018: The Young Budding Defenseman
Damon Severson was drafted in 2012 by the Devils in the second round at 60th overall. Severson wouldn’t start his career with the Devils until his 2014-15 season. His debut came against the Philadelphia Flyers on October 6, 2014. He scored his first NHL goal and assist in a 5-1 Devils win.
Severson’s 17 points that year were still good enough for a rookie season. Thankfully he would get help and learn to play better from the other Devils defenseman on the team, like Marek Zidlicky, Adam Larsson, and Andy Greene.
The following season, his numbers would improve to 21 points, as it began a trend for six of the nine seasons here in New Jersey by having the most points as a defenseman. He scored 34 points in 2016-17, giving Devils fans a look into the future.
Because of the great season and the overall play, then-GM Ray Shero gave him a six-year extension worth a total of $25 million. However, his number dipped to 24 points in the 2017-18 season. Despite that, the season did bring a few good moments for Severson, as in a game on February 12, 2018, against the Bruins, he laid a huge hit on Brad Marchand.
The hit was especially satisfying for Devils fans, as earlier that season Marchand injured Marcus Johansson with an errant elbow.
2019-2023: A Veteran Presence On A Young Team
While he continued to put up good enough numbers, it’s these next four years that we see a problem with Severson. He is criticized for lacking defensive play and making crucial mistakes in big moments. While that has always been the case, it’s become glaringly obvious over the last few seasons.
In the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, he averaged over 50 penalty minutes a season, which has become an issue. Other times it’s costly plays and terrible turnovers that ruin the Devils’ games. A couple of good examples of this is a game on December 27, 2019, against the Maple Leafs; he scored an own goal in overtime to give the Leafs the win. Severson also allowed a game-winning goal by Travis Konecny in a December 15, 2022 game against the Flyers by turning over the puck on a pass.
Despite all that, in his final season with the Devils, Severson scored 33 points. Not bad for a player spending most of his time on the third pair. He also gave us a big OT goal in the regular season against the Rangers. When the Devils got to the playoffs this year, Severson did score 3 points, scoring a goal in game three against the Hurricanes in the second round. While some people may remember him for his liability, he was still a solid player in the organization, and we wish him nothing but the best of luck with Columbus.