Photo: Sportsnet
The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired the rights to pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils for the 80th overall pick in 2023 NHL Draft (which was originally acquired from the Calgary Flames, via the Seattle Kraken). New Jersey re-signed the 28-year-old to an eight-year contract extension that carries a $6.25 million cap hit before trading him.
While averaging 19:57 per game (fourth among New Jersey defensemen), including 1:21 on the power play (second) and 1:02 on the penalty kill (fifth), Severson earned seven goals, 33 points, a +9 rating, 56.54% five-on-five Corsi-for percentage (78th in NHL), 60.68% five-on-five expected goals-for percentage (43rd), and 59.64% five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage (55th).
Damon Severson, acquired and signed 8x$6.25M by CBJ, is an analytical darling offensive defenceman with excellent passing ability whose tendency to make the occasional Big Mistake often earned him the ire of Devils fans. #CBJ pic.twitter.com/nN46AcHw1F
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 9, 2023
Columbus, who acquired defenseman Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, adds another blueliner after the team gave up the second-most goals-per-game (4.01) and had the eighth-worst penalty kill (75.1%) last season. The team finished last in the Eastern Conference by 11 points and is set to hire Mike Babcock as their new head coach after his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs expires on June 30.
Severson, who tallied a goal and three points in 12 postseason games for New Jersey this past Spring, has 58 goals and 263 points in 647 career regular-season games. He set career highs in goals (11), assists (35), and points (46) in 80 games during the 2021-22 season.
New Jersey loses a key piece from their defense after they finished eighth in goals-against per game (2.71), 13th in power-play efficiency (21.9%), and tied for fourth in penalty-killing efficiency (82.6%).
By Harrison Brown
Another one bites the dust!
Columbus starting to load up
Columbus starting to load up pre-draft
what an overpay!!
8×6.25 for a 29 year old whose ceiling is 2nd pair at best?? What the hell. . .
“Sign and Trade” is all over the NHL internet press. Bizarre. Team “X” does all the work to develop a long-term, rich contract for a hot-commodity player. Then Team “Y” accepts the new guy in a “trade” for a single draft pick. What I don’t know about “Cap-ology” ….. but this is obviously a new thing for GMs to “manage” the amazingly complex NHL CBA salary cap system
Wonder if GMBM contemplates doing similar sorcery with Kuznetsov and Mantha
This guy has skill. I was hoping Caps could get him. I guess he’s too expensive.
Congratulations to the Florida Everblades who just won back to back Kelly Cups sweeping the Idaho Steelheads (image of gator chomping a fish), Idaho set all time records during the regular season while Florida squeaked into the playoffs in 4th place in the South. Special congrats to Cam Johnson, goalie, who tied the ECHL record for most playoff shutouts.
Trivia: No Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup, Calder Cup, or Kelly Cup finals. Oh Canada! Idaho was farthest north city, Hershey second. Ice hockey has moved south.
Thanks for excellent info novafyre
Novafyre, as you know, I’m a Blades season ticket holder in addition to a Caps fan. Yeah, I know, it’s a strange marriage. Lol In an earlier post a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I didn’t expect the Blades to go too deep into the playoffs based on their in season play this year. They were the 4th ranked team in the south and with each series, their play got better. After winning the South Division they had to take on the Newfoundland Growlers, the team with the strongest record in the Eastern conference. By this point the Blades were playing like they did last year. After eliminating the Growlers, they flew directly from Newfoundland to Idaho to start the ECHL final round. The boys were on the road for almost 2 weeks before returning home to Estero with a 2 – 0 lead over the Steelheads, who had the best record in the ECHL. The Blades didn’t disappoint and beat Idaho 1 – 0 on Wednesday in a great defensive nail biter, and last night 4 – 3 in a final thriller. Everyone knows it is extremely difficult for any hockey team at any level to win championships back to back. But to watch them do it on home ice 2 years in a row was something special for me. Congrats to Cam Johnson for 2 consecutive Kelly Cup MVPs and the rest of the Everblades team!
Rich I was hoping we’d hear from you. I follow the Caps and Bolts (am 20 min from Amalie right now) so also the Bears and Crunch, Stingrays and Solar Bears. Followed the Blades a bit last year but didn’t like their AHL/NHL affiliations. Now that they are connected to Sunrise, might follow them again next year.
Cam Johnson did really come through. Four playoff shutouts! Although the Blades’ sins almost did them in in the second period with those two 5on3 PKs! I almost mentioned earlier how jet lag across the continent didn’t seem to bother them with their Boise wins but didn’t want anyone to think I was taking a shot at the Bears.
So you were part of the SRO largest Hertz Arena crowd at game 4. Good for you. The crowd was active, raucous, really into the game and, obviously, having a blast. And after the final horn, you could so see the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat out there on the ice. It might not be the Holy Grail of Lord Stanley’s Cup but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. To the Estero fans, to the coaches and players, it obviously meant the world. I have friends who won’t watch AHL or ECHL games because they feel the level of play is lower. Perhaps. But the heart, the dedication, the desire to play well and win, and, for some, to advance is still there. And it’s so great to see families and kids in the stands.
And I still think that Everblades is the coolest team name in North American hockey.
Yes, I was there. Center ice and 2 rows behind the penalty box. The place was mobbed. Been a season ticket holder for the last 10 seasons and been to a lot of sold out games. But they packed more people in the SRO area of the Club level than I’ve ever seen.
The Blades did great most of the playoffs keeping their PIMs down. But, start of second period, all hell broke lose. Not only did they have 2 5 on 3 penalty kills, one was a 4 minute double minor. They dug deep and only gave up 1 goal during that entire stretch. But momentum had changed and at the end of the second the game was tied 2 – 2. Start of 3rd period, Steelheads got their 3rd goal and the lead. But, Blades fought back and scored 2 more to make it 4 – 3.
I also know people that are not interested in minor league hockey. But, I’ll take ECHL hockey over MLB, NBA, or NFL. Plus, the Blades have a great junior hockey program. Just prior to every game one of the junior Blades between the age of 7 and 12 (I’m guessing the ages) skates on the ice with Swampy (our Alligator mascot) and one of our cheerleaders for the singing of the national anthem. And if you like the name Everblades, you should get a chuckle out of what the team of cheerleaders are called. Everbabes!! Lol
We’ll take a couple of weeks to enjoy, then we will be back to similar off season uncertainty like the Caps. But I’ll be able to get more information about the Caps off-season moves than is available for player moves at the ECHL level.
The head of ECHL PR was in the Blades booth during second intermission and I was really hoping to hear of new rules and deals to provide us with more information about games and players, but the conversation was really worthless.
Congratulations on another title, Rich.
Thanks Jon! Let’s hope the Cap’s GM can pull a rabbit out of the hat this off season and Carberry can figure out away to blend the old with the young, because I just haven’t been able to get into the Stanley Cup playoffs without the Caps having some sort of presence. The Blades did fill that void somewhat this year.