As the 2024-25 season came to its final days, the Blue Jackets continued to battle for a playoff spot without the services of their second highest paid defenseman. When the final horn sounded on the year, Damon Severson had been a healthy scratch for the final 9 games.
Acquired from the New Jersey Devils in a rare sign and trade just two years ago, Severson and the Blue Jackets just haven't been a good fit. In his first season in Central Ohio, he was able to skate by because the team was terrible and they didn't have any real depth behind him.
That's not to say he was bad. In fact, I thought he played basically about as we should have expected him to; scoring 9 goals, 28 points, and carrying a -10 rating in 67 games played. He finished third amongst CBJ defensemen in scoring, with a total that was basically right on par with his production over his entire career with the Devils.
The issue is that, the bar was raised this year and he didn't elevate his game. Severson was acquired to play as a top-three defenseman on an eventual playoff team. His contract (8 years, $50 million dollars) pretty much dictates that he has to play on the right side of one of your top two defense pairings to live up to expectations.
This season, with the entire team taking a step forward; Severson couldn't hold down a job in this team's top four. On multiple different occasions throughout the year, he found himself sitting in the press box as a healthy scratch, in favor of guys like Denton Mateychuk, Jake Christiansen, Jack Johnson; and with the entire season on the line, even Jordan Harris.
Again, it's hard to say he had a bad year. He finished fourth on the team in scoring from the blue line (just one point behind Dante Fabbro), with a stat line of 6-19-25. He also posted a +5 rating, which is pretty good for a guy who averaged over 19 minutes per game when he was in the lineup.
I tried to find fault in his underlying numbers, but again, it's really not that bad. He posted a CORSI rating right at 47%, which tells us the team defended more than they attacked with him on the ice - but not by much. This was actually a little better than Ivan Provorov, who definitely seemed to earn more trust from Dean Evason and his staff.
Severson also looked much, much better from an expected on ice goal differential. He was at -5.8%, while Provorov finished with a team-worst -25.8%. In fact, no matter where you look in the advanced stats department, Severson had a much better year than Provorov.
The important thing to note here may be usage. As mentioned earlier, Provorov earned more trust than Severson from the coaching staff. So, he was rolled out more frequently and often used against better competition. By season's end, Ivan formed part of a de facto shutdown pairing alongside rookie Denton Mateychuk - while Damon sat in the press box.
The eye test catches it.
From an "eye test" perspective, it made perfect sense. Damon would often look like one of the best players on the team on any given night - only to come out in his next game and cough up a brutal turnover, or take a bad penalty. He just didn't bring the kind of consistency this team needed from one of its most veteran pieces.
Suffice to say, something has to give here. They can't continue to healthy scratch a guy who makes this much money against the cap. Perhaps a summer off where everyone can reset and work out expectations, could make a big difference. Or, maybe the Blue Jackets will look to find a new suitor for Damon Severson's remaining 6 years.