dispatch
For the Columbus Blue Jackets, the offseason turmoil surrounding star defenseman Zach Werenski seemed to have settled, but his ongoing goal drought has thrust him back into the spotlight. Werenski, the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenseman, made headlines in July when he exercised his full no-movement clause to veto a trade to the Dallas Stars, a Stanley Cup contender. He also released a statement that day, accompanied by one from Blue Jackets president and general manager Don Waddell, in an effort to calm an agitated fanbase. Waddell addressed reporters the following day, while Werenski waited until August to speak publicly, remaining noncommittal about his future with the team beyond the final two years of his contract.
This backstory is relevant again for two reasons. First, Werenski has failed to score in the Blue Jackets' first 11 games, his longest dry spell to start a season by five games. Second, the Blue Jackets' next opponent is the Dallas Stars on October 31, the team Werenski refused to join. After splitting their first two games of a three-game road trip—a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on October 27 and a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on October 29—the Blue Jackets will face the Stars in Dallas. Werenski has nine assists this season, a respectable output, but his lack of goals is alarming, especially considering he scored more than 20 goals in each of the past two seasons and had never gone more than six games without a goal to start a season before this year.
Key Analysis
The goal drought is magnified by the Blue Jackets' overall scoring struggles and the offseason trade request of former leading goal-scorer Kirill Marchenko, who was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 28. Werenski's tumultuous summer, combined with the team's decision to leave the captaincy vacant rather than award it to him, has fueled speculation about his commitment. Questions are circulating online among analysts, reporters, podcasters, and fans: Does Werenski truly want to remain with the Blue Jackets? Is he biding his time until Waddell finds a trade partner he approves? Are the Blue Jackets still getting the same production from Werenski that they enjoyed in the first decade of his NHL career? All these questions are amplified by his zero in the goal column.
In the 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes at Lenovo Center, the Blue Jackets nearly erased a 3-0 third-period deficit on goals by Denton Mateychuk and Kent Johnson. Werenski, however, finished with a minus-2 rating and a secondary assist on Johnson's power-play goal. While not a poor performance, it fell short of the standard he set as a Norris finalist and winner the past two years. Werenski led all skaters with 28:47 of ice time against Carolina, slightly below his NHL-leading average of 28:54 per game. The next closest is Minnesota Wild star Quinn Hughes at 27:37 per game. Yet Werenski's ice time hasn't translated into the shot volume that accompanied his past two seasons of over 20 goals and 80 points. Against the Hurricanes, he managed just one shot on goal in seven attempts, bringing his season total to 30 shots on 74 attempts without a goal. He is on pace for 229 shots and 565 attempts, both below his totals from the previous two years. According to Natural Stat Trick, Werenski also leads the Blue Jackets in giveaways (25) and blocked shots (28). While those numbers aren't disastrous, the Blue Jackets need their Norris Trophy winner to take charge. At 5-6-0 heading into Dallas, with the NHL's fewest games played, the team could face a much worse situation if Werenski doesn't break out of his scoring funk soon.
Originally reported by dispatch.