Zach Werenski is Making a Strong Case for Norris Trophy Consideration
Werenski is off to a career start in 2024-25 for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Just how strong of a case does he have for the Norris Trophy?
The 2024-25 Columbus Blue Jackets are off to a surprising start. Being 11-10-3 after 24 games comes as a surprise even to general manager Don Waddell.
Everyone saw what the Blue Jackets were going through in the aftermath of the passing of the Gaudreau brothers. They could have just easily packed everything in and folks would have understood.
As they approach the one-third mark of their season, the Blue Jackets have exceeded expectations. They’re getting contributions from all over the lineup.
Most notably, the Blue Jackets are getting an incredible performance from defenseman Zach Werenski. Not only was he named to Team USA for the upcoming Four Nations tournament, he should be in every conversation surrounding the Norris Trophy awarded to the league’s most outstanding defenseman.
Werenski Finally Healthy
Let’s set the scene here. Werenski has had awful injury luck going back a couple of seasons. He has dealt with everything from major shoulder surgery to different ailments all over. He played just 13 games in the 2022-23 season before suffering that shoulder injury.
It was going to take time for Werenski to get back up to speed. As the 2023-24 season wore on, you could tell he was starting to find his stride again. In 70 games, he recorded 11 goals and 57 points.
The 2024 offseason would prove to be a significant one for Werenski. Why? That’s because he went into it healthy. He hadn’t been able to say that for a couple of seasons. With a more normal routine comes better results. He entered the 2024-25 season in the best shape of his life as a result.
Need proof of that? Werenski leads all skaters in average time on ice at 26:06 per game. While he acknowledged the extra ice time came with a little bit of an adjustment, he says he feels good and can handle the extra load.
Werenski in his first six NHL seasons reached double digits in goals five times including a remarkable 20-goal season in 2019-20. Once he found his health, it was expected he would return to his normal form.
How’s this for a start? Werenski has eight goals and 26 points in his 24 games this season. He’s two goals away from 100 in his NHL career. Should he keep this pace up, he will have a real shot at winning the Norris Trophy.
Werenski’s Norris Candidacy
By almost every metric, Werenski belongs in any Norris discussion. The way he is impacting the game at both ends is one of the biggest reasons the Blue Jackets are off to a better than expected start.
As good of a season as players like Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko are having, Werenski is the Blue Jackets’ MVP and it’s not even close. While his offensive impacts are the driving force, he’s showing significant improvement defensively too.
Werenski does it all. He plays top pair, runs the first power-play unit, plays the penalty kill and is out in every important situation.
So why does Werenski belong in the Norris conversation? The numbers he’s putting up say he belongs there.
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