In an effort to quick fix their struggling defense corps, former Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen went out and landed a couple of veteran blue liners early in the summer of 2023. Neither guy has been a dream fit, but Ivan Provorov has given this team a lot more value than Damon Severson - who is really struggling right now, currently in head coach Dean Evason's dog house.
First, Kekalainen acquired Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers in a three-team trade. This move has made sense. With the LA Kings retaining part of his contract, the team landed a higher end second pairing guy who makes second pairing dollars. He was brought in as insurance for an oft-injured Zach Werenski, and I do think the team has gotten good value here, all things considered.
On the very same day, the Jackets sent a third round pick to the New Jersey Devils for Damon Severson in a sign and trade. The Jackets got him signed to an 8-year, $50 million dollar contract that we are already regretting, not even two full years in. How did we get to this point? Can it be fixed?
The moment the deal was signed, many of us had our doubts. At the time of the signing, Severson was a 9-year NHL veteran with 663 NHL games under his belt - 16 of those in the playoffs. Without a doubt, the team needed to improve on the blue line. But, it was obvious right away that this was too much money, and too much term for this player.
Severson was coming off of the best two seasons of his NHL career, all spent with the Devils. In the two years leading up to this sign and trade, he combined for 18 goals and 79 points in 161 games played. In his seven seasons prior, he had just 184 points in 486 career games. Clearly, the Jackets were buying high here.
There were other concerns here, as well. They had David Jiricek waiting in the wings. Their recent 6th overall selection was terrific with the Cleveland Monsters in the year prior, and many of us hoped that he would be close to playing NHL games. Severson's contract, combined with other right-hand shots like Andrew Peeke and Erik Gudbranson, seemed like it would block David's path to the NHL.
A lot has changed since this deal was signed, but it still doesn't make sense...
In all, this move just never made sense for this team. Even though they needed to get better on the back-end, there was already a logjam of depth defenders here, and the fact of the matter is, Severson just isn't a top pairing guy. He's struggled even in depth minutes this season, spending one game as a healthy scratch and finding himself benched for a period in his return.
This can't go on. So, why can they do to fix it? I'll give three options on the next slide.