Zach Werenski won't win the Hart Trophy this season. Only one defenseman - Chris Pronger in 2000 - has taken home the award since Bobby Orr won three straight from 1970-72.
There's a case to be made Werenski isn't even the NHL's best defenseman this season with the years Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are having. But if voters truly adhere to the "player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team" definition of the Hart Trophy, it's easy to understand why Werenski's case is compelling and should earn him some down-ballot love, at the very least.
The on-ice contributions are well documented: his 57 points are two back for the lead among defensemen and rank 20th among all skaters this season. He's also one of only two blue-liners to lead his team in points. And he's a true workhorse, leading all skaters in average ice time (26:48).
Most importantly, Werenski's willed the Columbus Blue Jackets into a position nobody thought possible: a playoff berth. The Jackets hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference's jumbled postseason race entering Monday, despite owning the league's lowest payroll this season. Virtually everybody predicted they'd finish near the NHL's basement.
The negative preseason proclamations were easy to understand. Columbus, a franchise known mostly for ineptitude throughout it's 25-year existence, has missed the playoffs in each of the last four years, finishing last in the Metropolitan Division the past two campaigns.
Further, the club was dealt unimaginably difficult circumstances entering 2024-25 after star forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were tragically killed by a drunk driver in August.
Team leadership needed to be paramount under such heavy conditions, but the Jackets have been without captain Boone Jenner all season after he underwent shoulder surgery in October. Assistant captain Erik Gudbranson has played only three games this year.
"With the adversity, with Gaudreau, we don't have Jenner, Gudbranson - two of our leaders on our hockey team, captain and assistant captain - it's allowed (Werenski) to step up and be a leader within our hockey club," head coach Dean Evason told assembled media in Toronto before a 5-1 victory against the Maple Leafs on Jan. 22.
"He's a quiet guy. He doesn't get up on the soap box and give a lot of speeches, but he has spoke to the group a few times. I think that leadership has given him confidence to play with the ability that he has physically. That's given him the opportunity to lead this hockey club in the manner that he is right now."
Werenski clearly knows when it's the right time to speak up. He did so earlier in the season, defending his team's culture after ex-teammate Patrik Laine said Columbus was too comfortable with losing. Werenski called Laine's claim "bullshit" and said the comments "100% motivated" Columbus to beat Montreal on Dec. 23. It's possible Laine's comments lit a fire under the entire team, as the Blue Jackets are 13-5-1 since.
For the most part, Werenski lets his play on the ice do the talking.
'It's like his brain is calibrating a little quicker'
Werenski boasts an enviable physical tool kit. He's ideally sized at 6-foot-2, 211 pounds, and skates incredibly well for a player his stature. He has a lethal shot from the back end that he's great at getting through traffic. He's scored double-digit goals in all but two of his nine NHL seasons - both of which were significantly cut short due to injuries.
It's Werenski's ability to think the game at such a high speed that impresses teammate Sean Kuraly.
"What stands out is how quickly he can get up in the play sometimes," Kuraly told theScore. "He's almost like a fourth forward. It's like his brain is calibrating a little quicker than other guys and he's got the feet to back it up. He's been doing so many good things for us. He's shooting the puck and playing aggressive and we're really following his leadership."
Veteran defenseman Jack Johnson's in his second stint with the Blue Jackets. In his first go around, Werenski was a 19- and 20-year-old. Now, after rejoining the team as a free agent in the offseason, Johnson's witnessing a 27-year-old Werenski blossom into a leader on one of the NHL's youngest teams.
"He's led by example on the ice, big time," Johnson said. "You can tell from the first time I was here, from now, he's taken a lot more ownership on the ice. The biggest thing is the confidence I see."
While Werenski gets most of his praise for his offensive gifts, teammate Kent Johnson pointed out how well-rounded his game is.
"He's just so good. Pretty much the perfect player, perfect defenseman. He obviously does everything offensively, defensively. So skilled and smart. It's pretty crazy how good his stick is defensively. He's always getting his stick in during every battle."
Kent Johnson's enjoying a breakout year of his own with 34 points in 39 games. He noted Werenski's competitiveness in practice is helping him grow.
"He pushes me to get better," Johnson said.
Committed to Columbus
Part of what makes Werenski so important to the organization and the community is the fact he wanted to stay when others didn't.
Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky left as unrestricted free agents, moving on to more desirable locations in New York City and South Florida after Columbus' most successful season in 2019. Pierre-Luc Dubois forced his way out in 2021, and Laine requested a trade this past offseason. That's a lot of star power walking out the door.
Not Werenski. He could've left, if he wanted to, and few would've blamed him. But he inked a six-year, $57.5-million extension in 2021 that fortified him as the face of the franchise even before his second contract was up.
Where would the Jackets be without Werenski? Certainly not in a playoff spot. And the front office would be on a desperate hunt for a marketable, star player willing to stay in Columbus.
Werenski isn't the best player in the NHL, but when it comes to the value he provides his team, there's no doubt he's near the top of the list.
