Devils pull SIGN and TRADE with Blue Jackets for No.1 free agent!

On Friday morning, the New Jersey Devils signed defenseman Damon Severson, the No. 1 free agent available on the market, to an eight-year contract before trading him to the Columbus Blue Jackets, per Frank Seravalli.

The Devils are receiving a 2023 3rd round pick (Calgary's) in exchange for facilitating the sign and trade of Severson.

It was reported earlier this week by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that the Blue Jackets had come calling for Severson. It had been well-known that Columbus was looking for defense. The Devils made the decision to keep Severson for the deadline, hoping to go deep into the postseason with the blue liner. They won a round, and now they pulled the sign and trade. 

Severson is getting an eight-year contract with an average annual value of $6.25 million, Friedman reports now, with $10.8M in bonuses for Severson, who was the longest-serving Devil. 

He is coming off a six-year, $25 million deal he signed with the Devils in September of 2017.

The 28-year-old defenseman had a career year back in 2021-22 with 11 goals and 35 assists in 80 games. He wasn’t able to repeat those numbers this season, but he still managed 33 points in 81 contests. He also added a goal and three points in 12 playoff games before the Devils were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in five games in the second round.

The future defensive squad in Columbus surely looks good with the acquisition of Severson as pair of the top pair, after acquiring Ivan Provorov in a three-way trade earlier this week.

Recommended articles:

• Asking price for Juuse Saros has been leaked and it is huge!
• Reports of another trade between Flyers and Blue Jackets today
• Report: Huge trades coming from the Jets this summer
• Konecny also involved in Flyers' trade talk, full scale rebuild coming in Philly