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Last season the New Jersey Devils were one of five teams to have just two regular blue liners average more than 20 minutes per game.
Those two defensemen, of course, were Andy Greene and Adam Larsson.
With the latter sent packing in a blockbuster trade that brought Taylor Hall to New Jersey the Devils are left with just one defenseman on their roster who played 20+ minutes a night for any NHL team last season.
Ben Lovejoy was brought in to help fill the hole left by Larsson but he is not a 20+ minute per night guy. He averaged 18:52 last year and a case could be made that's still a little more ice than ideal for a player of his caliber.
Considering no team in the league had just one defenseman average 20+ minutes per game - that's essentially impossible - that means someone is in line for a big spike in minutes next season.
Lovejoy is a fairly reliable player but I wouldn't be comfortable with him playing top pairing minutes. Even in the Devils' defensive-minded, low-event system I feel he'd be exposed over time.
John Moore makes some things happen offensively here and there but he was the worst shot suppressing defenseman on the roster last season and is not a guy I'd want logging 20+ minutes a night.
Jon Merrill has been a disaster the last two seasons and averaged less than 17 minutes per game last year so he's not an ideal candidate for a bump. I think the Devils would agree with that, too.
Steve Santini could be a 20+ guy down the road but he's certainly not ready for that now and Seth Helgeson is a decent bottom pairing guy at best.
That leaves Damon Severson.
The 21-year-old blue liner only averaged a hair more than 18 minutes per game but was the team's best offensive defenseman in terms of driving shot attempts at 5 v 5 and putting up points. His shot suppression numbers were pretty good, too, although he didn't play overly tough minutes.
If there is anyone on the Devils' roster (besides Greene) capable of logging 20+ a night next season and doing more than treading water it is Severson.
Considering Ray Shero said he's likely done adding to the team - at least for now - it seems like the Devils are banking on that being the case.
I think Severson will be fine but if he can't handle an extra few shifts a night the next best alternative would be spoon feeding Lovejoy all the ice he can handle and I don't think that'd end very well.
The Devils appear to be all-in on Severson. Hopefully it pays off.
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