Columbus GM “Confident” Zach Werenski Contract Is Coming
The Columbus Blue Jackets are just like a dozen other teams at this point in the offseason: waiting for something to happen in the restricted free agent market. The Blue Jackets have yet to sign star defenseman Zach Werenski for the upcoming season but as GM Jarmo Kekalainen puts it to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription required) the high profile RFAs are “waiting for somebody else to go first.” That doesn’t mean things haven’t progressed with Werenski though, as Kekalainen explained that the team is still confident things will get done before the start of training camp.
Werenski, 22, was the eighth overall selection in 2015 out of the University of Michigan and after returning for his sophomore season in the NCAA became an immediate success in the NHL. Recording 47 points as a rookie in 2016-17 he finished behind only Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine in Calder Trophy voting and even earned himself a handful of Norris Trophy votes. In the two years following he has only increased his role on the team, averaging close to 23 minutes a night for the Blue Jackets in 2018-19.
Unlike Charlie McAvoy who is another restricted free agent defenseman waiting on a contract, Werenski has completed three full seasons in the NHL and is eligible for an offer sheet. That is obviously very unlikely at this point, but it puts his negotiation in a slightly different category. Werenski is four years away from unrestricted free agency meaning any contract longer than that will push the average annual value substantially higher. Portzline reports the two sides have discussed several different scenarios including three and five-year deals.
The Blue Jackets may look very different next season without Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky in the lineup, but still aren’t a team to completely give up on in the Metropolitan Division. That’s in large part due to the stud duo of Werenski and Seth Jones on defense, who are both still young enough to experience even further development.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Metropolitan Notes: Jones & Werenski, Capitals Goalies, Shattenkirk
After years of being paired together, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski saw some time apart. Over a three year period, Jones and Werenski spent 75 percent of their 5-on-5 time together and were almost inseparable. The two star defenseman stayed together on the top pairing line. However, that changed a bit last year. Jones and Werenski were split up sometimes as the two ended up spending just 57.7 percent of the time as Werenski, who was working on his defensive game, was often paired with Ryan Murray or David Savard.
The Athletic’s Alison Lukan (subscription required) analyzes whether the pair should be kept together or the split should finally be made and have each one of them on separate defensive lines. She writes that while they were more successful when they were together, the Jones and Murray combination and the Werenski and Savard combinations were among the top three combinations in terms of getting good chances and converting. While the split up likely affected Jones and Werenski’s goal-scoring last season, it created a deeper defense overall.
However, Lukan does note that Werenski’s defensive numbers actually dropped last season when not playing alongside Jones and considering that’s his weakness, Columbus might have be better off keeping the pair together. The Blue Jackets overall defense is improving and the combination of Murray and Markus Nutivaara actually put up solid numbers together as well and might serve the team even better as the second pairing. Of course, no one really knows what head coach John Tortorella is thinking.
- In his most recent mailbag series, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir (subscription required) comments on the goaltending depth in the Washington Capitals’ system. The team has a number of young goaltenders, including Ilya Samsonov, who they hope is the goaltender of the future. The team also houses Pheonix Copley and AHL All-Star Vitek Vanecek. However, El-Bashir points out that trading away some of their goaltending depth is extremely unlikely considering the team doesn’t know what will happen with current starter Braden Holtby, who will be an unrestricted free agent next season. With starting goaltender salaries beginning to skyrocket, it seems unlikely the team would be able to retain him, but if the Capitals win another Stanley Cup title this year, then things might change. Of course if Holtby does leave, then is Samsonov ready? If not, then the team might have to turn to Copley or Vanecek or even look elsewhere.
- Chris Ryan of NJ.com writes that it’s highly unlikely that the New Jersey Devils consider signing defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who became a free agent after the New York Rangers bought him out last week. The Devils courted back in 2017 when Shattenkirk was the top defensive free agent and might be inclined to add him once again. However, considering the changes in the last two years, there is little need to bring Shattenkirk in. In those two years, the team has brought in P.K. Subban, Sami Vatanen, and Will Butcher as well as drafted Ty Smith and seen the emergence of Damon Severson.
Snapshots: Lantosi, Worlds, Lambert
At the IIHF World Championship every year, you will find countless scouts and front office executives from the NHL in attendance to try and get a glimpse of the best international free agents. While hyped draft-eligible players like Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko are thrilling the fans with their potential, general managers are trying to find the 24-year old who has been overlooked for too long and deserves a chance at the highest level. One of those this year may be Slovakian forward Robert Lantosi, who Darren Dreger of TSN reports is drawing NHL interest.
Lantosi, 23, certainly wouldn’t have been a total unknown to scouts in the crowd. As an alternate captain of HK Nitra this season in Slovakia he registered 58 points in 56 games, good enough for fifth in the entire league. Lantosi recorded an assist today against the Canadian team, while playing on a line with Winnipeg Jets minor league forward Marko Dano. Dreger does not reveal which teams are interested in Lantosi, but it makes sense that someone would take a chance on the 5’11” winger. Signing him to an entry-level contract represents very little risk, and if he shows the capability to produce offensively in the NHL he could be a cheap upgrade.
- Speaking of the World Championship, a couple of teams have some late additions to the roster. Zach Werenski will join Team USA at the tournament after initially refusing the invitation, while Gabriel Landeskog will join Team Sweden according to Colorado Avalanche teammate Nikita Zadorov. Werenski’s decision to play is particularly interesting, given that he is scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. That contract status was part of the reason he gave for not committing to the tournament in the first place, something many players do because of the chance of injury. Werenski’s change of heart could potentially mean a deal is already worked out, though obviously nothing has been officially announced at this point.
- Lane Lambert has been a fixture next to Barry Trotz for nearly a decade, serving as his assistant and then associate coach in Nashville, Washington and New York. Now perhaps it is time for Lambert to branch out and take on an NHL head coaching position of his own, and John Shannon of Sportsnet reports that the Anaheim Ducks will interview him for their vacancy. The prevailing thought was that the Ducks were just waiting for Dallas Eakins to finish his Calder Cup playoff run with the San Diego Gulls before promoting him, but that speculation may be a bit premature.
Adam McQuaid, Ryan Murray Remain Out For Blue Jackets
For anyone hoping to see Adam McQuaid face off against his former team this postseason, you’ll have to wait a while longer. As the Columbus Blue Jackets departed for Boston today to face the Bruins in their second-round series, Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch reports that neither McQuaid nor fellow defenseman Ryan Murray made the trip. There is no clear timeline for either’s return, but they will at least miss the first two games in Boston.
McQuaid, 32, has yet to play this postseason after suffering a concussion late in the regular season. The veteran defender was acquired by the Blue Jackets from the New York Rangers at the trade deadline, but many still remember him most from his time with the Bruins. McQuaid, ironically a Columbus draft pick, spent the first nine years of his career in Boston before he was traded this past off-season. At the time, Boston was dealing from a position of strength, but ended up struggling with injuries on the back end all season and could have used McQuaid. Now, they could face the physical stay-at-home defender in the playoffs, that is if he can get healthy. Not only would McQuaid sure up the Blue Jackets’ bottom pair and provide insight into the Bruins’ inner workings, he would also provide the playoff experience sorely lacking from the roster. McQuaid has appeared in 68 playoff games and two Stanley Cup Finals, including winning it all with the Bruins back in 2011.
Murray, like McQuaid, is no stranger to being injured. The 2012 No. 2 overall pick has only played in more than 66 games in a season once in his six-year NHL career and finds himself on the sidelines again this postseason with a back injury. Murray has actually had a career campaign, recording 29 points in just 56 games and +20 rating that led all Columbus defensemen. Yet, Murray has been out since early February and it grows harder to imagine a comeback with each missed game. If Murray is able to return versus Boston or perhaps later in the playoffs, it would give the Blue Jackets a major boost and make them an even more dangerous puck-moving team.
Fortunately, Hedger notes that Markus Nutivaara did make the trip and is not expected to miss any further time with the upper-body injury that cost him the final two games of the first round sweep. He joins Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, and David Savard as a very capable top-four unit for Columbus. However, with McQuaid and Murray still out, the Blue Jackets could struggle matching up their bottom pair against the Bruins. Scott Harrington played very well against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but will have to keep up with that level of play if he and Dean Kukan (or Adam Clendening or Vladislav Gavrikov) want to defend against a deep Boston team.
Atlantic Notes: Backes, Kotkaniemi, Cholowski
A last minute scratch on Saturday has many people worrying that Boston Bruins forward David Backes might have a more serious problem when they look back to a hit that Backes took a shoulder to the head in Thursday’s game against Edmonton from defenseman Matt Benning in the first shift of the game. He was checked for a concussion and cleared to return, but only skated 6:28 during the game.
While the 34-year-old participated in Saturday’s morning skate, there are many concerned that Backes, who has suffered numerous concussions over the course of his career, has another, according to Matt Porter of The Boston Globe. Head coach Bruce Cassidy said he was “absolutely” worried about Backes.
“We’ll list it as an upper-body injury,” Cassidy said. “I think we all saw the hit. You want to be cautious, first of all. This is a player’s health, that left at the end of last year with a concussion.”
- The Montreal Canadiens got a great game out of 18-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi despite losing to Ottawa Saturday. The third-overall pick in this year’s draft is starting to show his skills and while he only has three points in seven games so far, he is clearly making a positive impact on the Canadiens, according to The Athletic’s Marc Dumont (subscription required). Throw in the fact that Kotkaniemi has made fewer than a half dozen mistakes on the ice, Montreal has a big piece in place for the future.
- Another player receiving quite a bit of praise is Detroit Red Wings defenseman Dennis Cholowski. The 20-year-old has received a big opportunity with injuries to Mike Green, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson and Danny DeKeyser, and has taken advantage of it, according to Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The 2016 first-round pick has shown off smooth skating and on-ice intelligence and has shown an offensive instinct, posting two goals and five point in six minutes. Dylan Larkin believes that Cholowski is a big piece to their future. “His head is always up and he’s always there to make passes and get it in the forwards’ hands,” Larkin said of Cholowski. “He reminds me a lot of Zach Werenski in that sense, where their posture with the puck is almost if you’re forechecking him, you don’t know what he is going to do because he’s got his head up and his feet are moving. It’s awesome having him back there.”
Metropolitan Notes: Columbus’ Defense, Maatta, Butcher, Kreider
With losses of both Jack Johnson and Ian Cole this offseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets will have some changes on their defense. Those changes could alter the entire defense, as head coach John Tortorella said recently in a Q&A with The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline (subscription required). In fact, Tortorella said he will have to consider whether he’s ready to break up his two star defensemen in Seth Jones and Zach Werenski. At the moment, he’s not ready to do so.
“It certainly makes me think about it, and I have thought about it this summer,” Tortorella said. “I’m going to let it play out. Right now I’m going into the season with ‘Z’ and Jonesy together, and we’ll see what comes of that second pair.”
Jones had a breakout season a year ago, while Werenski had an off year, but dealt with a shoulder injury that hampered him all season. However, Tortorella hopes that others will fill in for the team’s offseason losses, including Markus Nutivaara and Ryan Murray.
“I think (Markus) Nutivaara has improved tremendously,” Tortorella said. “I think (Murray) looked different to me in the playoffs. He can’t even grow a beard yet, he’s just got this stuff all over his face, but he looked different to me. He had more of a game face than I’ve seen since I coached him. He was really good in the playoffs. Can he take those minutes? I know he wants to. I know he’s pissed at me that I don’t give him enough time at certain times, but hopefully, he stays healthy and plays with an attitude.”
- The Pittsburgh Penguins look to be breaking up their top-four as well as the team promised to give top minutes to free-agent signee Jack Johnson, which will force the team to make some changes, according to Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Jason Mackey in a Penguins’ chat. While the team has no intention of breaking up their top defensive pair of Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang. That means the likely second line will be Johnson and Justin Schultz, which will likely force Olli Maatta out of the top four. Maatta, who tied a career-high in 29 points last season, will likely be moved to the third pairing next to Jamie Oleksiak.
- The Athletic’s Ryan Clark’s (subscription required) writes a Q&A interview with New Jersey Devils defenseman Will Butcher, the second-year defenseman has said he’s spent his offseason working on his shot. “My huge emphasis this summer has been on my shot from one-timers to just getting it off quicker,” Butcher said. “Just try to shoot the puck more. Look to shoot the puck more than pass.” The 23-year-old posted impressive numbers in his first year in the league, putting up five goals and 39 points last season. An impressive shot could improve his goal numbers in the future.
- When New York Rangers winger Chris Kreider returned from a two-month break when he was recovering from a blood clot, the 27-year-old had lost 15 pounds, which actually proved helpful to him, according to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman (subscription required). In fact, Kreider played some of his best hockey upon his return, which could fit in well around head coach David Quinn‘s new system. The scribe writes that Kreider found the perfect balance between his size, speed, strength and skill, which could carry over to this season, especially now that he’s out of Alain Vigneault‘s system that focused only on his speed.
Zach Werenski On Track To Be Ready For Season
Considering Zach Werenski played with an injured shoulder for almost the entire 2017-18 season, imagine how good he could be if he is at 100% for all of the upcoming campaign. That is the goal for the young Blue Jackets blue liner, who recently sat down with Columbus beat writer Brian Hedger. Werenski continues to recover from off-season surgery, but says that his goal is to “be there for Game 1”.
Werenski suffered the injury of note all the way back on October 30th, 2017. The sophomore defenseman nevertheless played in 77 games and recorded 37 points, even though he played with a brace for much of the year. Werenski then underwent corrective surgery in early May and had his left arm immobilized for much of the summer. However, the 2015 eighth overall pick is already ahead of schedule in his rehab and training. Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen shared a recovery timeline back in June that assumed Werenski would miss most of training camp, but the young defender tells Hedger that he hopes to back toward the start of training camp. Werenski has already begun shooting drills and is essentially back to his regular off-season training minus taking any contact. While the offensive rearguard is obviously motivated to be ready for the season for his teammates, coaches, and fans, he also admits to Hedger that playing in the teams opener, a road game against the Detroit Red Wings in his home state of Michigan, is an added personal boost. “Suffer now, but I’m going to be able to play in my hometown in front of my family and friends ” has been Werenski’s mantra this summer and so far things seem to be going well.
Should Werenski suffer even a small setback that leaves him unable to start the season, the Blue Jackets are less equipped to deal with his absence than they would have been last year. With Jack Johnson, Ian Cole, and even others like Taylor Chorney now gone via free agency, Columbus is relatively thin on the blue line after their superstar young pairing of Werenski and Seth Jones. Ryan Murray or Markus Nutivaara would likely be the replacement on the top pair with Jones while the other skates with David Savard, leaving the Jackets with a bottom pair featuring two of Scott Harrington, Gabriel Carlsson, Dean Kukan or new addition Adam Clendening. Count the Blue Jackets as being right there with Werenski in hopes that he is able to go from day one.
Eastern Notes: Matthews, Werenski, Skinner
After Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews changed agencies last week, the Maple Leafs are suddenly wondering what that means for them? After a turbulent offseason so far with their star player, which includes a poor playoff showing, two meetings with head coach Mike Babcock and an impending extension either this summer of next, there are suddenly more questions than ever, according to Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons.
Matthews switched from CAA to Orr Hockey Group, leaving behind super-agent Pat Brisson, who the Toronto franchise has had a great relationship with. While most franchises wouldn’t bat an eye when a player changes agencies, Matthews situation is different. Among those questions is whether the 20-year-old plans to stay loyal to the franchise. There have been plenty of questions raised about his rocky relationship with Babcock, which forced the coach to make two trips to Arizona to see Matthews this offseason. There are still questions about his future role as captain of the team and of course, how much money will his extension eventually get him? Will he demand the same money as Connor McDavid‘s eight year, $100MM deal?
- Brian Hedger of NHL.com interviewed Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen about the shoulder injury and subsequent surgery that defenseman Zach Werenski went through this season. Evidently, Werenski suffered the shoulder injury on Oct. 30 and played through the pain all season. The 20-year-old blueliner played with a brace that seriously affected his movement all season and affected his season significantly. “When your arm moves, like, this much, it’s pretty hard, battling for loose pucks in the corner,” Kekalainen said. “It affects everything, and he didn’t ever complain or use it as an excuse. He just kept playing through it and playing through it, and now he’ll be healthy for next year.” Despite the injury, Werenski still had a career high 16 goals, although his total points dropped by 10 from his rookie campaign. After undergoing surgery in early May, Werenski is expected to be ready for the regular season, but could miss all or part of training camp.
- While there has been quite a bit of speculation surrounding Carolina Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner this offseason already, don’t expect a trade too quickly, according to The News & Observer’s Chip Alexander. General manager Don Waddell said neither Skinner, nor his agent Don Meehan, has been asked to waive Skinner’s no-movement clause, nor have they been asked to tell them what team he would be willing to accept a trade to. Skinner, who is entering his final year of his six-year, $34.4MM deal he signed back in 2012 with a no-movement clause that kicked in last season, has tallied 204 goals for Carolina in eight seasons, but hasn’t taken them to the playoffs yet.
Blue Jackets Unlikely To Add At Center This Summer
It was another strong regular season for the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2017-18. The team had its second-best finish with 97 points behind the strong efforts of all-world goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, blossoming young defensemen like Seth Jones and Zach Werenski, rookie forward Pierre-Luc Dubois and game-changing acquisition Artemi Panarin. Yet, the Jackets were again ousted in the first round and still have yet to advance past that stage of the postseason in their 17-year history. In evaluating what area Columbus needs to improve in next season, some will point to poor special teams or a lack of shots on net. However, the major issue this season was the center position, where everyone not named Dubois had a disappointing campaign. The scoring depth, defensive ability, and face-off success of the group was all lacking this year. Entering the off-season with more than $13MM in salary cap space, many think the Blue Jackets should make a competitive offer to John Tavares or even Paul Stastny or Tyler Bozak in an effort to solve their problems down the middle. As The Columbus Dispatch’s Steve Gorten describes, that is unlikely to be the case.
While on surface level Columbus seems to be in fine shape regarding the salary cap, Gorten feels that GM Jarmo Kekalainen needs to tread carefully when contemplating adding salary to the current roster. In the short term, the team already faces several free agency dilemmas. Restricted free agents Boone Jenner, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Ryan Murray are in need of new contracts and the team is surely to be interested in retaining several impending unrestricted free agents such as Ian Cole, Matt Calvert, and possibly Thomas Vanek. The team’s long-term considerations are more pressing though; Columbus will need to pay Panarin, Werenski, and Bobrovsky after next season, all of whom will command significant contracts in both term and salary.
Given these spending limitations, both this year and in the future, signing a top free agent center is unlikely to be the right move for the Blue Jackets. Instead, Gorten suggests that Columbus stand pat and wait for their current centers to rebound from down seasons. 23-year-old Alexander Wennberg showed 60+ point potential last season, but injuries and long stretches of poor play kept him to just 35 points in 66 games this year, the first season of a six-year, $29.4MM deal. Health may be all it takes to get Wennberg back into that true #1 center range and the 2013 first-rounder may still make his contract look like a bargain and could even end up being a superior player to Dubois. For his part, Kekalainen has trust in the young forward, telling Gorten “I’m 100 percent confident with Wennberg that he’s going to have a great year next year.” What Kekalainen may be more focused on is improvement in the bottom-six, where the Jackets need a return to form from veteran Brandon Dubinsky. The 32-year-old is midway through a six-year, $35.MM deal but did not play to that level this season. Dubinsky was held to just 16 points in what was easily the worst season of his career. A buyout at this point in the contract would be very costly to Columbus, who are left to hope that he can bounce back. Gorten also suggests that the depth down the middle could be substantially bolstered by a prospects like Lukas Sedlak, Alexandre Texier, or Jonathan Davisson taking a step forward in their development, while there is also the off chance that the Jackets could land a potentially pro-ready pivot like Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Isac Lundestrom, or Barrett Hayton at pick #18 in the first round.
Even if all of that doesn’t work out, Columbus will also have options like Jenner and captain Nick Foligno, who they have hesitated to leave at center full-time, but are more than capable of playing the position if necessary. Rather than handcuff themselves with a free agent contract that could cause problems down the road, Gorten seems right in his take that hoping for the in-house options to step up their game seems to better suit the Blue Jackets this off-season.
Zach Werenski Undergoes Shoulder Surgery, Out 5-6 Months
According to Brian Hedger of NHL.com, Columbus Blue Jackets star defenseman Zach Werenski underwent shoulder surgery this morning and will be out for five to six months. The issue apparently had bothered Werenski since October 30th, when he first suffered the injury. In a statement, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen explained the decision to undergo surgery:
Zach has been dealing with this injury since early in the season and while he was able to play through it, our medical team determined that surgery was the best option at this time. The surgery went very well and the expectation is Zach will be ready to play by the start of the season or shortly thereafter
Five months would allow Werenski to start the season on time with the Blue Jackets, but it means he will at least miss all of training camp. Columbus is dealing with another early exit from the playoffs, and will be trying to overcome the other top teams in the Metropolitan. Losing one of their top pairing defensemen for any length of time is disruptive to that goal, and if he misses the first whole month of the season they could find themselves in an early hole.
Fortunately for the Blue Jackets, they also have Seth Jones and the rest of an impressive defense corps that can come to the rescue. Just like the Anaheim Ducks signed Francois Beauchemin to help deal with injuries to Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm to begin the year, you can bet that Columbus will ensure their depth is fortified this summer.
The fact that he was dealing with a shoulder injury all season could explain why his point totals dropped from 47 to 37 this season, but certainly should make Columbus fans excited for what comes next. If this season’s 20-year old Werenski—nearly 23 minutes a night and excellent even-strength production—was him at less than 100%, one can only dream about what he’ll be in a few years. Werenski is eligible for an extension on July 1st, and could be locked up long-term this summer.