Damon Severson Trade Grades
After completing the rare NHL sign-and-trade, we take a look at who really won the Damon Severson deal between the Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils.
Trade Details
Severson became a pending free agent this offseason and for good reason, but we’ll get into that later. The Blue Jackets signed the 28-year-old defenseman to a massive eight-year deal worth a $6.25 million cap hit per season. This contract may be hefty for the Blue Jackets, but a proven defenseman is what they need when rebuilding their roster.
Blue Jackets Grade: B-
Columbus comes into this rare sign-and-trade in the rebuilding stage of their franchise and when in that stage, you tend to overpay for guys that don’t deserve it and in this case, it’s Severson.
Severson has been a reliable defenseman for the Devils for the past nine seasons, but he hasn’t been great. In the Devils community, he is the cause of tons of losses. He isn’t the smartest player at times and takes a lot of stupid penalties. But when he is playing good, he is a well-minded and proper defenseman for a rebuilding team — certainly a good add for the Blue Jackets when he is locked in.
One reason I lowered the Blue Jackets grade so much is not understanding why Columbus overpaid for him. I know a $6.25 million cap hit isn’t huge, but Severson certainly doesn’t deserve it for eight years! He will be 36 years old by the end of the deal, and in the NHL, players get old and bad fast.
New Jersey Devils Grade: A-
As Trey said in the original sign-and-trade article, the Devils frankly don’t need Severson on the blue line anymore. They’re already such a young team with Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, John Marino and Kevin Bahl already on the defensive unit. There’s absolutely no reason to take on that deal for a below average player.
On the brighter side for the Devils, they got a third-round pick out of it (originally from the Calgary Flames). In total, you take Severson who can be a liability at times, off the books and add a third-round pick on top of it. I think that is a phenomenal trade for the Devils.
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