NHL Rumors: Damon Severson Traded to Blue Jackets From Devils, Gets 8-Year Contract

The New Jersey Devils and Columbus Blue Jackets reportedly agreed to a sign-and-trade deal Friday that will send defenseman Damon Severson to Columbus.

According to TSN's Chris Johnston, the move will see Severson sign a new eight-year contract with the Devils before getting shipped to the Blue Jackets.

Severson had been set to be one of the top available players in free agency and arguably the best defenseman on the open market.

Per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Devils will receive the Calgary Flames' third-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft, which is No. 80 overall, in exchange for sign-and-trading Severson.

The 28-year-old Severson was originally a second-round pick by the Devils in the 2012 NHL draft. He went on to spend his first nine NHL seasons in New Jersey.

In 647 regular-season games for the Devils, Severson recorded 58 goals and 205 assists for 263 points, and he posted a minus-120 rating.

His most productive season came in 2021-22 when he appeared in 80 games and set career highs in goals (11), assists (35) and points (46). Severson also averaged a career-high time on ice of 23:36 per game as a top-pairing blueliner.

This season, Severson registered seven goals and 26 assists for 33 points in 81 games, which represented a drop-off in production. However, he was a plus player for the first time in his career, delivering a plus-9 rating.

Severson fell in New Jersey's defensive pecking order, averaging just 19:57 in ice time per game, which was his lowest since the 2017-18 season, as he averaged at least 22 minutes per game in four straight seasons entering this year.

Dougie Hamilton, John Marino and Jonas Siegenthaler all averaged more time on ice this season among Devils defensemen, which may have contributed to the organization viewing Severson as dispensable.

The Blue Jackets have been hard at work rebuilding their defense corps in recent days, as they acquired defenseman Ivan Provorov in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Every defenseman who played more than two games for the Blue Jackets this season had a minus rating, including Andrew Peeke, who was a team-worst minus-41 in 80 games.

The Blue Jackets were badly hurt by the fact that top defenseman Zach Werenski missed all but 13 games this season due to a shoulder injury.

Assuming Werenski returns to full health, Columbus is now set to have a defense corps led by Werenski, Provorov and Severson next season, which represents a massive upgrade.

That alone should help the Blue Jackets fare significantly better than they did this season. They posted only 59 points, which was tied for the second-fewest in the NHL.