Which teams could land Zach Werenski?
It’s not often that a defending Norris Trophy winner could be available via trade, but that seems to be the case with the Columbus Blue Jackets‘ Zach Werenski. The Blue Jackets reportedly realize Werenski is unlikely to sign an extension on his deal to stay in Columbus, and are fielding trade offers so they can get something back for him before he walks in free agency.
The list of teams that would like to bring in Werenski should be lengthy, but early reports indicate that the Dallas Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, and Carolina Hurricanes have particular interest. Of course, where Werenski ultimately goes will be up to him as much as anyone else, as he has a full no-movement clause on his current contract that has two more years remaining.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Jonny Lazarus and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed which teams are most likely to acquire Werenski this offseason.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Where do you see him landing? We just talked about the Tampa Bay Lightning, that feels like the obvious, right?
Carter Hutton: Yeah, especially because it’s a good place. Do they have enough to give up to get him? My thought is if he goes to someplace like Tampa Bay, you instantly are right in there as a winner. You have a chance to compete. I’ve heard Toronto being in the mix, too, so I think there’s going to be fights to line up to try to get him. But that being said, he’s going to control his fate in a sense. It will be interesting to see how they handle this, because you heard Steve Yzerman talk about Dylan Larkin, where, yes, you requested a trade and that’s great, you want out of here, but I’m not going to bend over for you. I’m going to do what I need to do to protect the team. I think that would similar here, and I think the biggest factor would be that he’s going to try to help Columbus out. I don’t think he came out and just straight up said he wanted a trade like Dylan Larkin, where I think that relationship was frayed immediately.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Monday’s episode here…