Prior to last summer's sign-and-trade to the Blue Jackets, Damon Severson had spent his entire professional career with the New Jersey Devils. As a veteran of 9 NHL seasons and over 600 games, the Jackets needed him to step right in and become a stalwart, to help fix their pieced-together defense corps.
I wouldn't say Severson was bad for the Jackets last season, but I don't think it's fair to say that he didn't stand out in any way. He was just okay, which is maybe what we should have expected from a guy who was adjusting to a new city and organization for the first time. And, coming to a team with seemingly no defensive zone plan.
The honeymoon phase for Severson now has to end, though. The expectations are going to be much higher this season. The organization went out and hired a new head coach this summer, with the biggest task being cleaning up their goals against average.
While he doesn't need to be the single standout piece for the team defensively, he does need to step into more of a leadership role this season. With at least one, and maybe as many as three rookies likely to see minutes on the blue line this year; they'll need Severson to be reliable in all situations.
As the club looks to build this season, he should be able to play at least 20 minutes per night and hold serve. Whether it's chipping in some secondary offense, or playing shutdown minutes against the other team's top lines, he's paid like a top-four defenseman and that's what the Blue Jackets need him to be.
In fact, no player on the club has a longer remaining tenure than Severson's 7-years. His cap hit of $6.25m, puts him firmly on this team's first or second pairing for the duration of that deal. For better or worse, he's here for the long haul.
Which is fine. He's got the size, durability, skating, and overall skillset that should make him more than serviceable in the right situation. More than anything, I think having better coaching will help Damon, and the defense corps as a whole.
One bold prediction: Damon Severson finishes with a positive +/- rating this season.
This one is pretty bold, but I don't think it's unattainable. This is something he's done just once in the NHL, but let's remember that he played on some pretty terrible New Jersey teams early in his career. If Dean Evason and his staff can get Damon to weed out the occasional glaring mistake and play more like the veteran he is, he'll be fine.
The Blue Jackets will likely be in the bottom half of the league standings this year, but I don't think they'll allow 300+ goals again this year. A big part of that, will be Severson playing more comfortably and confidently.