COLUMBUS, Ohio – “Columbus Blue Jackets are proud to select, from University of Michigan, Zach Werenski” stated head amateur scout Ville Siren with a thick Finnish accent. His monotone voice rang throughout Blue Jackets Nation like a call of the wild. Werenski turns to his right and hugs his mother. He makes his way down to the stage where he is greeted by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson, and GM Jarmo Kekalainen.
Who is Zach Werenski? He is the youngest player in NCAA Hockey. As a seventeen-year old He doesn’t turn eighteen until July 19th. Werenski is a 6’2 207lb. defenseman for the Michigan Wolverines. In his first year as a Wolverine he played 35 games, 9 goals, 16 assists, and eight penalty minutes with a 9 plus minus. Werenski is a terrific skater with natural offensive tendencies. He can take the puck up ice with a lot of speed and make things happen. His skills as a defensive player are reported as needed to be developed.
How does he fit in with the Columbus Blue Jackets? Since the Jackets traded James Wisniewski to the Anaheim Ducks, there has been a hole to fill as an offensive minded defenseman. This is what the Blue Jackets need. Ryan Murray has been injury riddled in his short career with the Jackets. The Jackets defense has been in need of rebuilding in the last few years. Werenski can give the Jackets more scoring chances and playmaking abilities as they move the puck up ice. They need a player like him.
However there is a problem with the Jackets selection of Werenski. He is still a young kid. His skills playing on the defensive side of the puck need development before he goes full time into the NHL. Werenski is not NHL ready. He needs to develop his physical strength as a player; the question is where does he develop this talent? His major junior hockey rights belong to the London Knights, one of the top teams in the Ontario Hockey League. He can leave the University of Michigan and play for Dale Hunter, not a bad choice. The London Knights have a history of developing players and making them NHL stars. One example of this is former Jackets Captain and current Rangers star Rick Nash. Werenski can also stay where he is at and play for Red Berenson. The Wolverines have a good history of developing players too.
With this comes the inevitable debate on which would be a better choice to develop into an NHL player, the CHL/ Major Junior Hockey or the NCAA. Most players who are in the NHL come from CHL teams. They have a draft and trades which makes more of an environment to develop into an NHL player. If you play in the NCAA you are more of a student than a hockey player. This means that you would have to transfer schools and sit out a year before you can play for another college team. Still, there are educational opportunities that the CHL gives as well. For every year you play in the CHL, they pay for a year of college in any Canadian university. If a player doesn’t make the NHL or if things don’t work out, there is still an educational opportunity. That being said. I think Werenski would be better suited to play for the London Knights. It’s more of an NHL model and you still have the opportunity to go to school if things don’t work out in the pros.
As for the Jackets, the question is whether this move was a good one or not. I think that this draft choice was one out of necessity. If I were Jarmo Kekalainen, I would have held onto Wisniewski, let him finish out the year, then use him as a trade for a higher draft pick such as Noah Hafnin who has the same kind of skills as Werenski, but is NHL ready. This pick was like asking for a Ferrari, but getting one with an underdeveloped transmission. It was a mediocre pick. There is still the question on who will fill the shoes of Wisniewski or who will be that defensive equalizer that the Jackets need.
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