The Columbus Blue Jackets and their fans awaited news surrounding star Zach Werenski's injury on Thursday. On Friday, the news came, and it wasn't good news.
Werenski will miss the rest of the regular season, the team announced. The team said the defenseman is dealing with a separated shoulder and a torn labrum.
This is crushing for a Blue Jackets team that had aspirations of playoff hockey before the season began. It's all the more crushing given the additional absence of promising defenseman Nick Blankenburg.
“[Werenski is] a special talent. You can't replace him,” Columbus defenseman Andrew Peeke said Friday. “It's as simple as that but obviously we have to work together, playing new pairs and do what you do best, that's the biggest thing. Play to your strength and things will work out.”
Werenski was rolling through the first 13 games of the season. He had three goals and eight points in that span, and led the team in time on ice. He averaged around 23 and a half minutes a game.
The Blue Jackets were already dealing with injuries on their blueline prior to this news. Adam Boqvist has missed the last two week, and is expected to miss at least four more. Blankenberg will miss six weeks in his own right.
There are multiple opportunities for players to step up in Columbus. And Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen has some confidence these injuries won't completely wreck their season.
“Sometimes these things pull you together,” Larsen said. “You know, you get banged up and everybody kind of leaves you for dead except for the guys in that room that believe.”
The Blue Jackets snapped a five game losing streak with a win Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers. However, they sit last in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-9-0 record.
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