After Zach Werenski doubled down on his commitment to sticking with the Columbus Blue Jackets, there's still work to be done to convince him to stay beyond his contract. Alex Jiang explores what they can learn from the Vancouver Canucks' mistakes that led to Quinn Hughes' departure.
The Columbus Blue Jackets' off-season may sound painfully familiar to Vancouver Canucks fans.
The Blue Jackets haven't been to the playoffs since the 2020 bubble, missing the 2026 playoffs by six points and the 2025 post-season by two.
The Canucks also missed the playoffs by six points in 2024-25 before plummeting to the bottom of the league after trading their Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild for future assets.
This year's Norris winner, Zach Werenski, has two years left on his contract and was nearly traded to the Dallas Stars before nixing the deal, reaffirming his commitment to Columbus.
Of course, John Tavares also said all the same things before leaving the New York Islanders back in 2018.
The only real way to convince an athlete as competitive and as talented as Werenski to stay with a team is to win, especially in the playoffs. To do that, the Blue Jackets need to get better fast and look to the Canucks for some things to do and, more importantly, not to do.
Columbus' Culture Concerns
The Blue Jackets imploded at the end of the season, losing six straight games at home to miss the playoffs. Coach Rick Bowness was furious in his press conference following the season finale.
"Just look at the stat sheet: three hits, 23 giveaways," he told reporters. "I don't know if I'm back, but if I'm back, I'm changing this culture. These guys, they don't care. Losing is not important enough to them. It doesn't bother them."
Building a winning culture is possibly the most difficult task in sports, and the consequences of off-ice problems taking center stage can be dire.
The alleged rift in Vancouver between Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller was the team's biggest headline during the 2024-25 season, distracting the squad from the goal of building on its second-round appearance the previous year.
Werenski disagreed with his coach's comments.
"I don't think it's right to say that we don't hate to lose and we don't care," he said.
However, he also spoke up in support of Bowness.
"There's some things I don't agree with, but I know deep down he cares about us and he cares about this team and players in the room."
It was announced on April 16 that Bowness would return as the bench boss for Columbus. He led the Blue Jackets to a 21-11-5 record, and with a full off-season to reshape the team's culture, they might develop the mental toughness to rise to the occasion when the lights are brightest.
Blue Jackets' Special Teams Struggles
The Blue Jackets had some of the worst special teams in the NHL.
Their penalty kill finished at 76 percent, 28th in the league, while the power play was 18.9 percent, which ranked 22nd.
To fix both of their special teams, Columbus promoted Trent Vogelhuber from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, and hired former Buffalo Sabres coach Don Granato to lead the penalty kill and power play, respectively.
Vogelhuber oversaw the 12th-best penalty kill in the AHL last year, while Granato coached the Sabres to a top-10 power play in 2022-23.
In addition, the only major piece they've lost is Jenner for the penalty kill, and they've already filled that hole. Valeri Nichushkin played on both special teams for the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche, which had the best PK in the league.
While it is possible to be successful in the regular season with bad special teams, weaknesses get exposed during the post-season.
Over the last five years, the Canucks have had the third-worst penalty kill in the league, and it was a weakness that the Edmonton Oilers exposed during the 2024 playoffs. In the three one-goal games that they lost, the Canucks gave up at least one power-play goal, including the series-deciding Game 7.
Will The Real Franchise Forward Please Stand Up?
The Blue Jackets didn't have a single player break the 30-goal mark last season. While on paper, Nichushkin could replace Jenner and Mason Marchment's combined production, that would mean they're breaking even with last year's team. If it wasn't already clear, the Blue Jackets need another elite forward.
Lucky for the Jackets, the Detroit Red Wings are currently stuck in the Saw trap that's calling itself the Atlantic Division. With no significant additions, they look outgunned compared to their peers, and star center Dylan Larkin's trade request might be fulfilled if he expands his desired destinations.
A slightly more realistic option from the Red Wings is right winger Alex DeBrincat, who's an upcoming UFA and should be cheaper as a result. He's had 10-plus goals and 20-plus points on the man advantage, and multiple 30-goal seasons.
This type of move undeniably worked out for the Canucks, who acquired J.T. Miller in a draft-day trade back in 2019. Despite how it ended, it brought immediate firepower to the team and vaulted Vancouver into the playoff hunt.
When Werenski declared that he would be staying in Ohio, he was very clear in expecting the Jackets to get back to the playoffs and compete for a Stanley Cup.
That is the expectation that an elite player demands. It was part of the expectation that Quinn Hughes demanded, and the Canucks failed to meet it.
Columbus needs to get aggressive, and it needs to start winning, or else it's going to end up like Vancouver in a few years and stare down the barrel of a long rebuild.
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