‘I’ve been through it all’: How mental toughness fuels Zach Werenski’s career year

Credit: Oct 17, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski (8) is introduced before the game against the Buffalo Sabres at Nationwide Arena on Thursday. Mandatory Credit: Samantha Madar/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

Zach Werenski had just played his worst game of the season. That’s a direct quote. He brought it up.

Lounging in the lobby of Toronto’s Ritz-Carlton hotel, two games into a stretch when his Columbus Blue Jackets play two four-game road trips in three weeks, he condemned his performance in Monday’s 3-1 loss to the New York Islanders. And you know what? He was right. The 5-on-5 scoring chances were 16-6 in New York’s favor with him on the ice that night.

But Werenski didn’t hang his head or wring his hands or clench his jaw when talked about it. His disposition remained impenetrably sunny, giving every indication that game would roll right off him. That’s because he’s so mentally strong. He’s been through a lot by any athlete’s standards over the past few years, so one bad game doesn’t faze him. Maybe that’s why he’s having the season of his life.

Things were so different just two years ago, when Werenski was rendered a spectator for all but 13 games of Columbus’ 2022-23 season. In a November game, he flubbed a hit attempt, fell awkwardly into the boards and sustained a separated shoulder and torn labrum. He was the biggest casualty in a snakebitten year during which Columbus lost the second-most man games in the NHL to injury.

Werenski had just commenced a six-year contract extension, carrying a $9.583 million AAV, before his injury. He yearned to live up to that deal. If it couldn’t happen on the ice right way, he wanted to be involved with the team as one of its leaders and make an impact off it, so he coped during his injury recovery that season by doing extensive community work. He hosted various groups at a suite he purchased at Nationwide Arena – from kids battling life-threatening illnesses to military members to first responders and more. In the process, he gained a lot of perspective about his luck.

“When I was hurt, I was in a bad spot mentally because I couldn’t play hockey, but life’s not so bad for me, you know what I mean?” he told Daily Faceoff this week. “Giving back, and being around people that are less fortunate and have gone through stuff way worse than me, actually helped me a lot mentally. I really enjoyed doing that, going to the Children’s Hospital, having people in my suite, going to visit them. First responders, going to dinner, to lunch, things like that. It would get me out of the house and back in the community and trying to give back. That was one of the things that really helped me get through that year.”

Travel was also a tonic. When Werenski’s at home with fiancée Odette Peters, he’s always planning the next trip. He takes pride in being the organizer. His summer 2023 included a trip to Japan and a pilgrimage to England for close friend and fellow University of Michigan alumnus Dylan Larkin’s bachelor party.

The ensuing fall, Werenski arrived at camp healthy, albeit not knowing how his body would respond after a 10-month layoff, and boom, the Mike Babcock phone drama struck before the season even started. Columbus had a new coach by opening night and a nine-game losing streak in November. Werenski hurt his quad in October, his ankle in December and missed 12 games. The Blue Jackets fired GM Jarmo Kekalainen by February. Another lost season. But Werenski did his best to stay positive. He’d gotten his body back into NHL shape, worked on strengthening his soft tissue to reduce future injuries and quietly posted a career high in points with 57. He played for team USA at the World Championship in the spring. He headed into the summer feeling physically and mentally sharper than he had in years.

And then it happened. Blue Jackets star left winger Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed in August while riding their bicycles, the night before their sister’s wedding, when alleged drunk driver Sean Higgins struck them with his vehicle.

It was an unimaginable tragedy for a franchise that has seemingly been hexed for the past half decade. It would’ve been forgivable if Werenski and his teammates imploded. Instead, the Blue Jackets have been one of the NHL’s most shocking and inspiring success stories this season, none more than Werenski, who is right in the thick of the Norris Trophy race.

And it seems to be all a matter of wisdom gained from experiences good and bad – controlling what he can and accepting what he can’t. Zooming back in: it makes sense that one bad game didn’t rattle the guy and that he bounced right back in a 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs two days later.

Perhaps it’s also because Werenski is the son of a police chief, Ken Werenski, a 32-year veteran who isn’t “in a squad car anymore,” as Zach puts it, but still works every day as director of public safety in Gross Pointe Shores, Mich. He’s been a role model for Zach all his life.

“Work ethic is a big one,” Werenski said. “I would see him going to work at 7:00 pm at night, coming home at 7:00 in the morning when I’m going to school or waking up. And he never misses a day in the gym. He’s kind of a beast that way. Nowadays, because his schedule’s more consistent, I think he works like 9:00 to 5:00, like most people do, but he’s in the gym every day at 4:30.”

Zach feels, most of all, his father taught him how to move forward and learn from mistakes if things go wrong. As a police offer, Ken’s been exposed to all sorts of stressful situations but learned perspective – and that’s where Zach gets it.

Armed with the necessary mental fortitude, Werenski has been a force in 2024-25. He believes the dangling carrot of playing at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Olympics was a big motivating factor for him and other players this season and wonders if that made him more dialed in than normal to open the year, which has been non-stop dominant for him. His 52 points in 48 games rank second only to Colorado Avalanche superstar Cale Makar’s 53 among defensemen. Werenski also sits second among all blueliners in goals with 15, and his 181 shots are 34 more than any other blueliner. His 26:46 of average ice time leads the NHL and is the highest mark of any skater in the past six years. At 5-on-5, he paces all defensemen in shots, expected goals, and individual high-danger changes per 60 and sits second to Makar in scoring chances per 60. Werenski arguably has been the NHL’s most elite offensive defenseman, stride for stride with Makar.

“After watching him for four years now, for me, this year he looks so much faster, so much quicker on the ice,” said Blue Jackets director of hockey operations Rick Nash. “He looks comfortable after staying healthy. He just took his game to another level for me and put it in that top tier of NHL defensemen. Every time he has the puck, it seems like something’s going to happen. Every time you think he’s out of a play, he pumps it into a different gear and gets right back into the play. Those are the little things I see in his game that have changed year over year.”

“On a day-to-day basis, seeing him play all these games, you don’t realize how actually dominant he is,” said Dante Fabbro, who has flourished as Werenski’s partner on the top pair since Columbus claimed him off waivers in November. “He just carries the play. It’s not just offensively, it’s defensively as well. He plays an honest, hard-working game. He drives our team, he drives our offense.”

In almost any other year, Werenski would be a lock for the Norris Trophy, but he has to compete with two generationally great defensemen in Makar and the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes, both of whom grade out as superior in their own end, especially Hughes, whereas Werenski has been closer to a break-even player on the defensive side of the puck. But if you factor in the talent surrounding the other two favorites, especially Makar, on their respective teams, it makes Werenski’s campaign on a rebuilding Blue Jackets squad all the more jaw-dropping. Not that he sees things that way. As he points out, his supporting cast has been low-key great in Columbus this season even if it isn’t loaded with brand-name stars.

“No one can predict the year I’m having in terms of points, but seeing guys in training camp like ‘Marchy’ [Kirill Marchenko] and ‘KJ’ [Kent Johnson] and even ‘Fans’ [Adam Fantilli] – not much has changed on my end, but our team is definitely better,” Werenski said. “That helps as well. I’m giving the puck to guys that have a ton of confidence right now that can make plays, score goals, and we’re all benefiting from each other. So it’s good that way where I feel like I haven’t really changed much. My bad games aren’t as bad as they were in the past, and my good games are better than they were before, but not by much.”

Werenski has a point. The Blue Jackets are legitimately one of the most improved teams in the league. Marchenko has broken out as an elite two-way forward, a point-per-game winger playing Selke Trophy caliber defense. Johnson is scoring at the highest rate of his career. The Blue Jackets have a top-10 offense and power play in the NHL, and that’s despite playing all year without captain Boone Jenner and losing center Sean Monahan, who’s been a point-per-game player, to a wrist sprain earlier this month. The team no one would’ve blamed for folding early this season has somehow hung around the Eastern Conference Wildcard race and doesn’t look like a fluke at all under fiery new coach Dean Evason. The ‘Win it for Johnny Gaudreau’ mentality obviously plays a role, but this team isn’t just riding an emotional wave. The Blue Jackets are good.

“It would be a great story, obviously, if we could get into the playoffs, and I really think we could do some damage if we get in,” Werenski said. “We’re a good hockey team. But I do think guys have it in the back of their minds to do it for Johnny, play for John, and that’s what we want to do. It’s just play hard and play hockey and play for each other, and we’ve all embraced that and bought into it, and it’s a big reason why we’re having success for sure.”

As much as any Blue Jacket, it’s Werenski pushing this team emotionally – even though it hasn’t always been within his comfort zone to do so – with not only Jenner but also assistant captain Erik Gudbranson out.

“He’s a quiet guy. He doesn’t get up on the soapbox and give a lot of speeches, but he has spoken to the group a few times,” Evason said. “I think that leadership has given him confidence to play with the ability that he has physically. It’s given him the opportunity to lead this hockey club in the manner that he is right now.”

Werenski doesn’t just lead by example with his play, but also because he’s committed to being a Blue Jacket. It’s a source of pride for him to be a constant in a market where few players have been. To put it perspective how many Blue Jackets have bolted: at 27 years old, Werenski is already eighth on the franchise games list and fourth on the points list.

“Zach is a loyal guy and a Blue Jacket at heart,” Nash said. “We were going through a bit of a change in the organization with a lot of players leaving, each player for different reasons. It could have been easy for Zach to want to sign short term or go his separate way. But Zach invested in the organization, and we invested in him.”

“I’ve been through it all since I’ve been here,” Werenski said. “We’ve made playoffs four times, didn’t make the playoffs the last four years. I’ve seen guys leave, I’ve seen us buy at the deadline, sell at the deadline. I’ve kind of been through it all here in Columbus. And I’ve just enjoyed it all. I’ve loved the city, I’ve loved the fans, I love where I live. My fiancée, she’s from the same hometown as me. She loves Columbus more than our hometown. It’s just a spot where we want to be.”

Maybe Werenski has exploded into superstardom this season because he was always this good and simply needed his body to cooperate and the right team to form around him. But perhaps there’s a karmic element to it, too. The man who put his roots in and dedicated himself to an underappreciated hockey city is finally reaping the rewards.

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‘I’ve been through it all’: How mental toughness fuels Zach Werenski’s career year

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