Defense Of The Defense Moving Forward And Werenski Needs Some Love In Columbus

This is an extension of my last article, which revealed the Columbus Blue Jackets as having the most underrated defensemen in the league, which begged the question, "Why was Columbus only 17th in the league defensively"?

The answer to this question is why I have embraced analytics over the last few years. I watched a lot of Jackets games last year, as I have with every team, and for some reason my eye test didn't register how poorly Columbus's forwards paid attention to their defensive responsibilities.  The only exceptions were Cole Sillinger, Mathieu Olivier in a limited role, and Coyle, but even he dipped quite a bit from last year. So I decided to take it upon myself to watch a couple of recorded CBJ games from last season to see what my eyes were missing. Yes, this is what the summer of an obsessed hockey geek looks like.

What I found was an alarming number of players who are not known for normally doing so playing a very undisciplined brand of hockey where they were jumping the gun towards offense in the D zone far to often and sitting on the half boards waiting for defensemen that were out manned to get them the puck for far to long instead of offering support down low. Boone Jenner, Marchenko, Voronkov, Monahan, Johnson, and Fantilli were the most notable culprits, but in general it seemed to be a habit that had spread through the room. Werenski and the gang were left to their own devices far to often and did extremely well under the circumstances but by no means is this an ideal way to go about playing the game. The most surprising thing about this was Jenner and Marchenko, who are usually as sound as it comes in this area. Fantilli really has always been way behind the curve defensively. horrible you could say, away from the puck and might not every get to even poor status, Voronkov actually slightly improved but is much the same as Fantilli and Johnson just struggled all around last year. I now have more understanding as to why Evason looked like he was going to explode behind the bench more than usual last year and why Bowness lost his shit at the end of last year. 

Now I will look at this spin.. What if Werenski realized this shift that was happening and was just as frustrated as the coaches were in many ways? I mean he did pooch out at the end of the season as much of the defense did, which is completely understandable now that i have put it together. Seems like there was a malaise within the room somehow and a loss of commitment to the way that a team needs to play. If Bowness' message at the end of the season manages to perk up some ears and he can renew the fire that seems to have been waning throughout the season..Is it possible a change of heart is accomplished for Werenski? The challenge is on the board. Only time will tell.