The Blue Jackets may be facing a new challenge with 10 games remaining.
Damon Severson, who’s most recently skated as Zach Werenski’s partner on the top defensive pairing, left with 8:21 remaining after sustaining an upper-body injury in the third period of a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on March 26 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
After spotting Canadiens forward Zachary Bolduc in the left-wing corner of the Blue Jackets’ zone, Severson lined him up for a shoulder-to-shoulder hit and immediately recoiled. He left the ice shortly afterward for medical treatment and didn’t return.
“We’ll get an update on him later,” Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness said during a press conference shown on FanDuel Sports Network. “Obviously, it’s an upper-body injury and we’ll get an update on him, but he’s a big part of our team. He scored a great goal for us tonight, and hopefully it’s not as bad as, you know, we’ll see what it looks like.”
Severson is having his best overall season since signing an eight-year, $50 million contract as part of a sign-and-trade pact on June 29, 2023, with the New Jersey Devils. Severson’s eighth goal of the season tied it 1-1 shortly after Jayden Struble gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead in the first period.
Severson also has 24 assists for a total of 32 points to go with a career-high +18 plus/minus after finishing last season as a healthy scratch under former coach Dean Evason. Replacing Severson will be difficult if he’s sidelined, but Ivan Provorov, Denton Mateychuk, Dante Fabbro and Erik Gudbranson have all skated with Werenski.
Even while playing next to several different teammates, Werenski leads the team in scoring with 77 points (21 goals, 56 assists) and is putting together another bid to win the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman.
Fabbro spent the most time in that role last season, and his right-handed shot – like Severson’s – pairs well with Werenski’s lefty shot.
This season, Evason played two lefties, Provorov and Mateychuk, over Fabbro before Bowness took over Jan. 12 and did the same thing with Mateychuk. More recently, Bowness had moved Mateychuk to the third pairing to skate with Gudbranson, a righty, while moving Fabbro up to play with Provorov on the second pairing.
The Blue Jackets are scheduled to practice March 27, so stay tuned for potential updates on Severson and the Blue Jackets’ defensive pairings.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets await assessment on Damon Severson injury
