On Monday the New Jersey Devils signed defenseman Damon Severson to a six-year contract extension worth $25 million ($4.166 per season).
Here are some of the many reasons to like this deal:
1) In 2016-17, Severson was one of only 18 right-handed defensemen to play at least 1,500 minutes, record 30+ points, and post a positive Corsi For% relative to the team.
You always hear GMs talk about how hard it is to get right-handed defensemen who can play in the top-4 and produce -- Ray Shero mentioned that after extending Severson -- but it really is difficult. Severson fits the bill, and his best days are still ahead of him, so the Devils were smart to keep him around for the long haul.
2) Severson tallied more 5v5 points than the likes of Drew Doughty, Rasmus Ristolainen, Justin Faulk, Shea Weber, Cam Fowler and Mark Giordano, among many others, despite playing a) fewer minutes than each and; b) on a worse offensive team.
3) Severson did benefit from more favorable zone starts than some other defensemen on the team but he certainly made the most of it as he led all Devils blue liners in Corsi For% and positively impacted the possession numbers of every player he played meaningful minutes with.
4) Severson gets ripped on for his bad plus-minus -- which is a horrendous statistic -- but there were a lot of factors working against him such as empty net goals and a low on-ice shooting percentage. With Severson on the ice at 5v5, the Devils scored on just 5.68% of their shots. That, of course, means goaltenders posted a ludicrous .943 save percentage. I'd have a hard time believing that will continue this season even if the Devils played 82 games against a healthy, rested, Carey Price.
5) At 5v5, Severson was 2nd on the team among regular defenders in suppressing both shot attempts and goals. Could he improve defensively? Sure, but let's not pretend he was a disaster. His plus-minus, which again is a horrible stat, was misleading.
6) Some people knock the contract because they think $4.166M is too much for what they consider to be a quality 2nd pairing defenseman. Well, Severson will be the 72nd highest paid defenseman in the NHL next season. There are 62 top pairing guys so, even if Severson is the quality 2nd pairing guy many label him as, he's being paid accordingly.
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