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The Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall swap was a big win for the New Jersey Devils but the trade did create a big hole on the blue line.
Over the last 1.5 seasons Larsson skated on the top pairing alongside Andy Greene and performed admirably while logging extremely tough minutes.
Barring a notable addition to the back end prior to the season, which appears unlikely, the Devils have two realistic options to fill Larsson's spot on the top pairing: Ben Lovejoy and Damon Severson.
Lovejoy won't put up many points but, for the most part, he is a reliable defensive player who can chew up some minutes. Lovejoy logged almost 19 a night last season for the eventual Stanley Cup champs in the Pittsburgh Penguins. If he were to fill Larsson's role and be utilized similarly he'd have to play more than 22 minutes against the best of the best while also being used heavily on the penalty kill.
Defensive minutes are what Lovejoy is best suited for - he's definitely not an offenisive specialist - but I worry he'd be exposed playing those kinds of minutes against Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Claude Giroux and the Metro Division's top players on a nightly basis.
Severson is probably best equipped to handle a big spike in minutes but I don't think playing him with Greene makes a ton of sense unless John Hynes eases up on their defensive usage.
Over the last couple seasons no defense pairing started a higher percentage of their shifts in the defensive zone than Greene - Larsson.
We've yet to see the best of Severson but he is still unquestionably the best offensive defenseman on the roster and in the system altogether.
By asking him to start his shifts almost exclusively outside of the offensive zone, and play stiff competition, his ability to put up points would be hindered at 5 v 5. He would also be more worn down when power play opportunities came about, which is part of the reason Larsson and Greene were used so sparingly in that role.
Severson fared well while playing ~550 minutes with Greene over the last two seasons (most came in 2014-15), and would probably do the best job filling in for Larsson, but the Devils would be sacrificing some offense on the back end that they desperately need.
Is using Severson in that role worth it? That'll begin to be answered in a couple months.
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