Blue Jackets players ready to take the next step

Damon Severson has been through this before. A mainstay with the New Jersey Devils before signing with the Blue Jackets in the offseason, he watched the team go through a rebuild that resulted in the drafting of No. 1 overall picks Nico Hischier (2017) and Jack Hughes (2019), not to mention such talented prospects-turned-NHLers as Luke Hughes and Jesper Bratt. For years, fans in the Garden State wondered when adding those highly skilled players would lead to success on the ice, and it finally happened in 2022-23 when the Devils amassed 112 points and went to the second round of the playoffs in Severson's final season with the squad.