Zach Werenski Pushing His Way Up To The Top Of Another Blue Jackets Stat Category

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski continues to work his way up in just about every stat category the franchise has. This time it's shots. 

Werenski has 36 shots so far through 13 games this season. At this pace, he'd hit 233 shots at the end of the season. Many people think he's not shooting because he's not scoring, but that's simply not true. He currently sits second in shots behind Adam Fantilli, who has 40. 

233 shots would be his third-best season, sitting behind the last two seasons where he had 298 and 260, respectively. 

With his two shots against the Avs last night, Werenski sits at 1,882 shots for his career, which is the 4th-most. Just in front of him in third, with 1,883, is former CBJ legend Cam Atkinson. 

Sitting second is former Captain Boone Jenner with 1,992 shots. Rick Nash leads the way with 2,278 shots. 

He should pass Atkinson on Thursday. But to catch Jenner, he'd need to average around 1.5 shots per game for the rest of the season. This should be manageable for Werenski. 

Catching Rick Nash might prove a bit tough, though. In theory, Werenski has 155 games left until his contract expires with Columbus. Many fans don't expect him to finish out that contract here, which is fair. 

To catch Nash, he'd need to average 2.55 shots per game over those 155 games. In an ideal world, this wouldn't be an issue because Werenski would finish out his career in Columbus, but we all know anything could happen at this point. 

Despite what many believe, Zach Werenski is having a good season for Columbus. He's been on the ice for a lot of the Jackets' goals this season, and despite being in a goal drought, he leads the team in assists, +/-, TOI, shifts per game, and is second in overall points. 

His goals will come. 

Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are back at home to play the Dallas Stars on Thursday. 

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