Zach Werenski is staying in Columbus, and the Blue Jackets just made it official on Wednesday.
General manager Don Waddell and the defenseman released matching statements confirming he wants to stay beyond his current contract, ending weeks of speculation about his future.
According to Waddell, the two sides talked back in the spring about what came next. Columbus even explored moving him before he shut that door himself.
Waddell says he found something that could work for the club and brought it to him. After talking it over with his wife and family, the answer was no.
Why does this matter so much? This is not a fringe piece for Columbus. He carries a cap hit of $9,583,333, the fifth-highest among defensemen in the league.
On the ice, the production backs it up. He put up 81 points in 75 games this season, with 22 goals and 59 assists, plus four power-play goals.
His recent form has cooled some. Over his last 10 games he has just four points and sits at a minus-5 rating, a rough stretch for a guy carrying that kind of cap number.
Werenski calls the leak frustrating, says it got blown out of proportion
In his own statement, Werenski didn't hide his irritation that the talks became public. He said that wasn't how he wanted this handled, but that's the reality of the business now.
He was direct about his intentions, though. Werenski said he wants to win and wants to do that in Columbus, calling the city his home for the past 10 years.
That loyalty carries weight given where this team sits. Columbus is 40-30-12, sitting 18th overall and riding a two-game losing streak after dropping the last one 1-2 to Washington.
The Blue Jackets have gone just 2-7-1 over their last 10 games, a brutal stretch for a franchise that Waddell himself admits has fallen short of the playoffs the past two seasons.
That's the tension buried in these matching statements. Everybody says the right things, but this roster has not gotten the fan base back into the postseason.
Rick Bowness has been behind the Columbus bench since January, and now he inherits a franchise defenseman who just publicly recommitted to a rebuild that hasn't turned the corner yet.
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Werenski insists he and Waddell are aligned heading into whatever comes next. The real test is whether this front office can build a roster that actually backs up the words.
Should the Blue Jackets have traded Zach Werenski instead of paying him to stay?
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