The Hockey World Is Taking Notice Of Zach Werenski's Jaw-Dropping Season, Putting His Name In The Conversation For Norris, Hart Trophies

By Ed Francis on January 15, 2025 at 4:10 pm
Zach Werenski's been mentioned as a Norris Trophy for weeks in Columbus. That attention is now turning national — and there's even some buzz that Z could be the league MVP.
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Is the next Norris Trophy winner playing in Columbus?

Better yet, is the league MVP currently on the Blue Jackets?

They are two questions that have the same potential answer: Zach Werenski.

The 27-year-old is having an unfathomable season with the Blue Jackets, and Tuesday night's win — Columbus' fifth straight — was just another feather in the cap. Werenski scored both of the team's goals in regulation, including the game-tying tally in the final minutes of regulation.

Head coach Dean Evason is almost speechless at this point, adding that what Werenski brings off the ice is just as valuable as to the gaudy numbers he puts up on it.

"I don't know what words you can use (to describe Werenski)," said Evason. "His drive to lead his team and help his team have success is as good as I have ever seen."

But it takes more than drive to bring home the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman.

What would be a season-defining night for most players in the NHL was just another night for Werenski, who now has nearly as many multi-point games this season (13) as he does games without a point (14).

And that gap is narrowing. Over his last ten games, Werenski has three times the number of multi-point games (six) as he does games held off the scoreboard (two). He's currently on pace for 28 goals and 65 assists for 93 points, which would easily exceed Artemi Panarin's club record of 87, set in the 2018-19 season.

Werenski's two-goal night moved him to 15 on the season and, combined with 35 assists, were his 49th and 50th points of the campaign. He missed being the NHL's first defenseman to 50 points this season by the narrowest of margins.

How close, exactly? Werenski's second goal (50th point) came at 9:22 p.m., and Colorado's Cale Makar got his 50th point on a secondary assist at 9:17 p.m. 

They're two of the three candidates in what can essentially already be deemed a three-man race for the Norris.

Current Vegas odds have Makar, at -275, as the clear favorite. Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks follows at +375 and Werenski is in third at +600. No one else is close. Hughes won the award last year, with Makar winning it two seasons' prior. They had 92 and 90 points in their Norris-winning series, respectively.

The +600 odds seem high — but it's dropping quick. Just two weeks ago, many oddsmakers had Werenski at +1000 or higher. 

And while Makar and Hughes have been great this season, one thing they are not doing is going on streaks that put them in company with the NHL's all-time greatest players.

Werenski is currently on a 17-game home point streak, the longest in the league since Ray Bourque put together the same streak in the 1992-93 season with the Boston Bruins. Next up for Werenski is Brian Leetch, who had 18 straight in 1991-92. Only four players have had such a streak last more than 20 games: Bobby Orr did it twice and has the all-time record of 25, and Paul Coffey and Phil Housely had streaks of 23 and 22 games years before Werenski was even born.

That's the proverbial "Who's Who" in NHL all-time blueliners, and Werenski is firmly in that company. 

Werenski said he doesn't pay much attention to it, though did agree it was "cool" when asked by reporters.

"If you would've told me before the season I'd go on a streak like this at home I probably wouldn't believe you," said Werenski. "But I'm just trying to go about my business, do my job, and help this team win."

As for the Hart Memorial Trophy for the league's MVP...

Probably not, but it's nothing against Werenski. It's, in large part, the position that he plays.

The last time a defenseman won the Hart, the Blue Jackets hadn't even played their first game. That was St. Louis' Chris Pronger, in the 1999-00 season and even then, he won it by a single point (396-395) over Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr in what was the closest MVP race in NHL history. 

Pronger, who was 25 that season, scored 14 goals and had 48 assists for 62 points in 79 games. Werenski already had more goals than that and barring injury will also finish with dozens of more points, but the asterisk there is that Pronger was a lock-down defender in ways the league wasn't seeing from anyone else at that time. The metrics weren't as advanced then as they are now, but there is this: Pronger led the league in plus/minus this season, at +52. For comparison, Werenski is +8 this season and Brayden McNabb's +23 in Vegas leads all defensemen.

Werenski is very sound defensively and always seems to be in the right spot, but to put him in the category of Pronger could be a bit of an overreach. 

As for the Hart this season, it's the usual suspects are at the top of the oddsmakers list right now: Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov, and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon are in a virtual tie for the favorite. McDavid's teammate Leon Draisaitl is right behind them, followed closely by Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck and Tampa's Nikita Kucherov are behind them.

Those are the only six players with odds under +1000, with Werenski nowhere to be seen.

And unfortunately, the award is typically a points race. Werenski's 50 points leads the Blue Jackets, but he's in a five-way tie for 13th in the league. MacKinnon, who won the award last season, is already at 70 points. Four other players are in the 60's and two more knocking on the door at 59.

How can Werenski win it? The Hart is very much subjective by definition. Part of whether or not someone talks Werenski's name at face value when it comes to talk for the Hart is how they define it because by the book, the award is for the "most valuable player to his team." 

Werenski is doing what others in the league are not, and he's doing it on a team that was projected to be amongst the worst in the league.

Instead, the Blue Jackets are near the top of the wildcard race with February just over two weeks away.

The Avalanche are good because of MacKinnon and Makar, even if one of them is missing. The story is the same with the Oilers and the combination of McDavid and Draisaitl. Every candidate for the Hart is on a team that was expected to be in the thick of it all, with Stanley Cup hopes not out of touch with reality.

By value to their team? There's no question Werenski belongs in the conversation. He's doing it on the ice, and he's leading the league in minutes while doing it.

But he's doing it off the ice too, as Evason alluded to. 

With captain Boone Jenner having missed the entire season so far as a result of a preseason injury that required surgery, there's been absolutely no doubt who the leader of the Blue Jackets locker room is. 

The rarity: Werenski does it all with grace and poise.

"He doesn't walk through the room lie, 'I'm Zach Werenski,'" said Evason. "It's 'I'm one of the guys, just trying to help, just trying to teach, just trying to lead."

If Werenski can keep helping, teaching, and leading — and playing the way he is — he'll continue to force his name into the conversation for both awards.

All the way into playoff hockey.

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