Defenseman Zach Werenski was still a restricted free agent as of Sunday. Werenski decided to sign a three-year deal worth $15 million on Monday, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced on Monday.
This is a huge deal for Columbus because they didn’t want to head into training camp with him being sidelined. Zach Werenski wasn’t the only key restricted free agent on the market.
Mitchell Marner (Toronto Maple Leafs), Patrick Laine (Winnipeg Jets), and Brayden Point (Tampa Bay Lightning) still have not been signed yet to a contract by their respective team and it will be interesting to see how long this lasts.
As for Werenski, he is only 22 years old. Zach Werenski is one of the best young defenseman in the game. He is a solid two-way defenseman in John Tortorella’s system. Werenski was one of the reasons why Columbus won a playoff series for the first time in franchise history last postseason against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In 82 games played last season, he scored 11 goals and recorded 33 assists. His plus/minus was -12. In 237 career games, Zach Werenski has scored 38 goals and recorded 90 assists. His plus/minus is 13.
In 19 career postseason games, he has scored three goals and recorded seven assists. His plus/minus is 1.
Werenski was taken with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft. Columbus also has one of the better blue lines in the league. Seth Jones is also a very good defenseman on that team.
This contract for Zach Werenski wasn’t expensive at all and it was a reasonable price considering the fact that the cap space has been going up across the league.
Werenski’s contract is going to affect Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov. He technically does not have a contract right now and Philadelphia wants to give him one before the season begins.
It will be interesting to see how Zach Werenski performs with his new contract. He is one of the key pieces on this team and Columbus hopes they can get back to the playoffs this season despite losing some key players in the offseason.
