Zach Werenski already sits atop the CBJ record books for defensemen.
The news surrounding the Columbus Blue lately has been about defense. For the last few years, it’s been historically bad defensively. But what about offensively? Let's take a look.
When you look at some of the offensive records for defensemen, it shows a clear picture – for the first 13 or 14 years of this team, the defense rarely scored any goals. All they did was play defense, and they were still typically not good. Nowadays, in a more offensive league, defensemen score goals and rack up assists.
Going into the 2023-24 season, young Zach Werenski is the franchise leader in points with 245. Those 245 points were scored in 416 games played. His 416 games played sit 5th in franchise history. Zach also leads the franchise with 18 PP goals scored by a defenseman. Werenski has 166 assists, sitting second behind ex-Blue Jacket Seth Jones, who leads with 173 assists. Zach should pass that easily this upcoming season.
Zach Werenski, a fan favorite, and a front office favorite, is quickly cementing his claim of being the greatest defenseman to ever wear a CBJ uniform, simply based on points. And with 5 more seasons left on his contract, those numbers may become hard to reach for future CBJ Defensemen. Adam Boqvist, who has played in 98 career games with the Blue Jackets, currently sits 2nd in points with 46, for active players on the team. That blows my mind.
The 2023-24 version of the CBJ blue line will consist of Werenski, Gudbranson, Severson, Provorov, and then a mix of a few others. We all know this group will play fine on the offensive side, but what about defense? We all know it must be better. I personally can’t wait to see this group play both sides of the blue line. Should make for a fun season if everyone stays healthy.