Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski learned plenty of things during his rookie season at the NHL level, and those are lessons that will serve the 19-year old well as his career blossoms in the professional ranks.
Werenski credits young veteran defenseman Seth Jones with helping him develop throughout the 2016-2017 season, one in which the Blue Jackets qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for just the third time in their 17-year history.
“Being a young guy, it’s nice to have a guy that’s still only 22 and has played almost 300 games,” Werenski said. “You feel really comfortable around him because you’re so close in age, so being a young guy and playing with a guy like Seth, whose been around the block, he’s played in six playoff games in Nashville, played in almost 300 games, played in the World Cup, he’s such a vet for such a young age.
“It’s easy to interact with him and talk to him, and I think our friendship off the ice just carried over onto the ice, and I think it’s a big reason why we had success as a pair.”
In addition to Jones, Werenski credits defensive coach Brad Shaw for the successes he had as a rookie.
“He was awesome,” Werenski said. “He always has something to say, which is what you want as a young guy. You want him to tell you what you’re doing good and what you’re doing bad. He’s honest with you. He’s so knowledgeable around hockey, he’s seen things I’ve never really thought about, or I’ve never been told. He sees it. I think having him as a D-coach my first year was huge for me.”
Werenski took those lessons from Jones and Shaw and applied them on the ice throughout the season.
In 78 regular-season games in his rookie year, Werenski scored 11 goals and assisted on 36 other scores for a total of 47 points. The eighth overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Werenski was a plus-17 on the season, served only 14 penalty minutes and put 188 shots on goal.
Additionally, Werenski was a catalyst for the Blue Jackets’ special-teams units, scoring four goals and assisting 17 others on the power play.
And if Werenski’s rookie season is any indication, the future is bright for the Blue Jackets in the eyes of coach John Tortorella.
“I’m glad he’s ours,” Tortorella said of Werenski. “I watched some stuff with some young kids as of late, just how young kids act in the league, and with our guy here, he gets it right away, what it is to be a young player in the league, what it is to respect the league, what it is to respect your teammates.
“He is so far along. I’m with him 24 hours a day all year long here, and so, I’m very fortunate to see that. I don’t know what’s going on with the other guys. I see some other young kids in the league, some great talent, but how they act, it scares me. It shouldn’t because they’re not mine, and this guy is.
“This guy is a Columbus Blue Jacket. We are so fortunate. Forget about what he does on the ice. The way he handles himself, I think is so important when we talk about standard, when we talk about culture, when we talk about what we want to be. He has stepped right into it, and he’s on a fast track.”
