Zach Werenski continues to be incredibly important to the Blue Jackets

The Columbus Blue Jackets have not quite made the jump that many expected from a talented young core that showed tons of promise down the stretch last season.

At 14-14-6, they currently occupy the last place spot in the Metropolitan Division, and they’re tied for last in the Eastern Conference. Fortunately, a tightly-packed wild card picture in the East means that they’re not even remotely out of the race for a playoff spot just yet.

That’s in large part due to another outstanding season from star defenseman Zach Werenski, who so far has followed up his excellent campaign from a year ago with 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points in 34 games played.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed the continued impact that Werenski has made in keeping the Blue Jackets competitive.

Tyler Yaremchuk: I don’t think he’s properly rated by a lot of casual NHL fans who maybe don’t watch a lot of Columbus Blue Jackets games. I think he is way, way, way closer to the Hughes and Makars of the world than a lot of people give him credit for, and let me throw you this number. With Zach Werenski on the ice this year at 5-on-5, the Columbus Blue Jackets are plus-10. With Zach Werenski off the ice at 5-on-5, they’re minus-15.

Carter Hutton: And when you hear those sort of numbers comparatively, it is really hard to deny that… When the numbers are that far apart, there’s usually something going on. Zach Werenski is a big body, too. He can play well. He defends hard. He plays a lot of minutes; he’s in every single role.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…