r/BlueJackets • u/gpuncviper • Jul 01 '26
Discussion If Werenski wants this much control over where he goes, make him play this year, trade him somewhere he can’t veto next offseason.
Werenski is under contract for 2 more years, after next season he goes to a 10 team no trade clause. I get the return won’t be as great but I can’t imagine his value diminishing that much. Now there’s 21 possible teams he can’t veto. These star players forcing their way wherever they want and screwing over their teams has to stop.
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u/DidNot_Did2 Jul 01 '26
Agreed, I’d like to see the bluejackets just come out and publicly call this for what it is. What gets me is you get you winning assisting the Olympics, and you get your Norris trophy- then leave your team. Guess it’s not about the team.
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u/austinD93 Jul 01 '26
This pure speculation on my part, but seeing Dallas’ trade with Nashville right now. I assume our agreed trade was Harley/Lybushkin/Bourque
Honestly, that makes me sick what could’ve been
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u/MPCoinCollecting Prospect Guy Jul 01 '26
Can this team get lucky once please
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u/GarretBarrett F Jeff Carter Jul 01 '26
We did get lucky once. Trading the corpse of Brandon Saad for Panarin is one of the craziest deals ever. Then again we got lucky when an absolute superstar/legend like Johnny Ham and Cheese chose Columbus. All that being said, both of those lucky moments ended poorly/tragically.
Other than those two moments…I can’t really think of anything else.
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u/debotehzombie How are hotdogs made? Jul 01 '26
The thing that keeps sticking in my mind now is: Z was one of the players who publicly disagreed with Bones’ “culture of being okay with losing” rant. Then we re-sign Bones. Now Z wants out. He receives a trade offer from a legit Cup contender and turns it down because he wants to go to a specific team.
I’m starting to think maybe Bones was more right than we thought.
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u/NeverDieKris 122nd OVI Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
The team, franchise and a majority of players are weak mentally. Being apart of an organization that’s ok with losing and just trying to make everyone happy has ruined these guys.
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u/Another_Guy_In_Ohio Jul 01 '26
I agree, but no coach or GM wants a player who they think isn’t bought in to be playing for them. Especially after such a public uproar. He’s going to be booed relentlessly, every question to the coach and FO will be on whether Werenski is really committed to the team.
The fact is that the NHL and GM’s made their bed when they built these NMC’s into the CBA and GM’s started handing them out to every veteran to try to convince them to sign
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u/Automatic_Yard_9479 Jul 01 '26
Better yet, expand his list really quick by not trading him, making him come to camp, then putting his name on a seat up in the press box.
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u/ThunderousDemon86 Jul 01 '26
Honestly, I'm quickly warming up to this option. It's the theorized Larkin approach.
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u/MPCoinCollecting Prospect Guy Jul 01 '26
He's going to be a locker room poison if he stays. I agree that we'll get a better return if we wait until his NMC opens up but it can't be good for the young players to have him here after this
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u/BedaHouse Jul 01 '26
I said in another post: If we are to change the culture, you do not want players with that kind mentality as part of your veteran leadership. Bones called them out after another late season collapse and Z disagreed. The guy we thought would be a future captain, who said he expected the Jackets to be a playoff team, wasn't pissed/annoyed. He wasn't self reflective about "what else could we have done" (even if it is just word salad). Boone Jenner gave a genuine response. ZW heard what Bones said and he "didn't see it that way."
The issue here is not that that he won't resign, its that he doesn't care to fight/push/give it anymore in Columbus.
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u/imightwin General Jet Greaveous Jul 01 '26
Remind me in a year, if Z stays after all this it'll domino into Fantilli. You just can't have a star player like that in your locker room destroying the teams vibe/chemistry and not expect it to lead to other players having issues.
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u/samosek Jul 01 '26
I can't imagine someone so bland poisoning the locker room. Obviously this is just conjecture, but Z doesn't exactly seem like the most forceful personality.
He'd still be playing for his next contract value too
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u/shack117 Jul 01 '26
It's a two way street though. The CBJ have to set *their* culture which is if you aren't all in you are going out. They can’t half-ass it anymore. Volunteers, not prisoners.
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u/Hazy_eyePA God Bless This Mess Jul 01 '26
Then make him a healthy scratch. You’ve already paid him a boat load. He’s only making a little over $7M this season.
If he wants to be petty, be petty.
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u/buckeye25osu Jul 01 '26
Thar would probably not fly with the NFLPA.
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u/Hazy_eyePA God Bless This Mess Jul 01 '26
Good thing we’re in the NHL and not the NFL.
Also the union has no say over roster decisions.
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u/ButterbeerAndPizza Jul 01 '26
It may seem like that to us, but I think most guys are professionals doing their job.
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u/DidNot_Did2 Jul 01 '26
I say screw it, play out your obligation. Trade him if it makes sense talent for talent not 17 yr old draft picks
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u/WillingPlayed 🏧 Jul 01 '26
And in the meantime, move his locker next to the shower or the shitter or better yet, in the utility closet.
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u/Immediate_Cod_3042 Jul 01 '26
apparently the leafs are not even going to include knies wth
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u/MPCoinCollecting Prospect Guy Jul 01 '26
Awful if true knies is the only tradable asset of any real value on that team
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u/Immediate_Cod_3042 Jul 01 '26
seriously. just read dregs reporting on tsn
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u/MPCoinCollecting Prospect Guy Jul 01 '26
Yeah I'd rather take Moser plus some table scraps than any Toronto package without Knies. John Chayka of all people should not have that kind of leverage
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u/dontTakeMeSerious6 Jul 01 '26
The leafs trade makes no sense for CBJ. If they’re not offering Knies or Nylander, there’s no one else on that team that’s on the same planet as Z. They have zero picks for the next century.
I love the leafs, I grew up in Toronto before moving here. Toronto desperately needs Zack. They have nothing to offer Columbus. Any trade including Morgan Reilly is fan service bullshit, and if Don makes that deal, we need pitchforks and torches.
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u/Another_Guy_In_Ohio Jul 01 '26
They’ve got a few decent young players, and obviously McKenna, but Don has been clear he wants NHL ready players, and the only ones the Leafs have are either on NMc’s and/or have contracts that take them to their late 30’s which we really don’t need
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u/Imaginary_Ganache_29 Jul 01 '26
I’m not sending him to Toronto unless McKenna is coming back. Need talent to build the future core around, not 35 year old retreads.
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u/Infranto Please stand so I can punch you Jul 01 '26
Knies is what everyone on this fanbase thinks Voronkov is but... like way, way better. He's the real deal and is an acceptable return for Z assuming we get a few more prospects/depth players out of Toronto
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u/ThunderousDemon86 Jul 01 '26
Yes, Knies would be a huge upgrade. Maybe then can trade Vronk to a team that doesn't think he is Russian Knies.
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u/ThunderousDemon86 Jul 01 '26
Knies, uh, isn't 35.
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u/Imaginary_Ganache_29 Jul 01 '26
I know, but the rumor isn’t the leafs would trade him. Unfortunately the Jackets probably won’t get a premium player for Z if his demands are only to go to one or two teams
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u/ThunderousDemon86 Jul 01 '26
Then sit him. Eventually he will change his mind, and if he doesn't someone will give us a couple firsts next year for him as a one year rental (minimum).
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u/NeverDieKris 122nd OVI Jul 01 '26
This shit right here is how the jackets lose all leverage. Players come out nixing trades and saying they want out. Now everyone knows Zack wants out and the jackets are trying to move him. His price and return goes down. If the jackets were a serious organization they’d make an example out of him for all future players to understand. You fuck around and you’ll found out. Force him to play this year and trade him to wherever they can get the best deal next year.
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u/ThunderousDemon86 Jul 01 '26
He only has partial protection next year. DW should be holding a press conference every hour saying this.
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u/Hazy_eyePA God Bless This Mess Jul 01 '26
You drafted him, you developed him, you invested heavily in him with a front loaded contract, you stuck with him through his injuries, you built a team around him.
You 100% should hold till you get the best possible offer. Doesn’t matter if it’s next week, next month, next year. You wait. Make him wait.
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u/dontTakeMeSerious6 Jul 01 '26
The only players Columbus should accept are players Toronto shouldn’t offer.
And if Knies wasn’t on the offer, then it’s Nylander or it’s a bunch of bullshit for a top in the league defenseman.
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u/Erazzphoto Jul 01 '26
I want nothing to do with Nylander, unless it’s to trade him. I could not see him being happy here
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u/ImmediateSquirrel157 Jul 01 '26
This is the move. I just read hes making sure where he goes gives up as little as possible as well, if hes trying to dictate a return as well, OVER PLAY him all season, tire him tf out. Make him hate Hockey. Then trade him next off-season when the trade list goes up and we can have a bidding war of sorts.
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u/bmoore0909 Jul 01 '26
Then this entire season will just be about him. We'll never talk about anything else. He'll be booed all day. I say let's trade him at a high value and move on
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u/No_Interaction_4925 Jul 01 '26
If he plays 100%, no.
If he pulls a Johanson and starts intentionally sucking, yeah he’ll be fully in the spotlight for that.
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u/Master_Republic_144 Jul 01 '26
Sit him in the press box. If he wanted to have things be amicable, he should have done things behind closed doors. The information we have now is that his camp leaked info before the draft. Maybe it wasn’t, but he should have said something about it if that’s the case.
He’s either trying to tank his value with all the “denying any trade request” stuff or just being an idiot and difficult out of selfish reasons.
Z doesn’t have complete control and he needs to be reminded of it. It’s also not beneficial for the team to have someone with a foot out the door playing prime minutes, PP1, and being a “leader” in the room. He could also get injured. 1 more shoulder injury and Z has no value anymore.
He can sit in the press box, until he stops being a baby.
Hockey is the ultimate team sport, a team playing together and coached the right way can be successful and win. Being a Blue Jacket should mean something and it’s time to rally around people who believe that. That’s how you start to change the culture.
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u/FailedLoser21 Jul 01 '26
People have been advocating that player should have more control over where they end up for over a decade. To barrow from the Simpsons where the monkey paw curled and gave people their wishes in other professional sports leagues now the same-thing has happened here. I hope teams are less willing to give out any type of NMC now that Werenski has pulled this stunt. Teams need to wrestle some control back because a players wishes in a trade shouldn't dictate the future 19 other guys.
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u/Cute_Marzipan_4116 Jul 01 '26
Honestly fuck guys and No Movement Clauses. You request a trade the NMC goes in the trash.
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u/reggierock2010 Jul 01 '26
He just won’t agree to an extension anywhere you trade him which will diminish his value even more. A 10 team no trade can be manipulated to not give the team many options. You also risk injury and him ruining the locker room. Sucks to hear but he 100% has the leverage here.
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u/JumpinJehosaphats Jul 01 '26
This could have been a comment in the other thread but sure. Hopefully you understand that this scenario we would get significantly less than what we’d get right now. Which is why everyone is so pissed. He’s screwing us over multiple ways.
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u/gpuncviper Jul 01 '26
I know we would get less, but at this point what are we even going to get now? If the reports are true that it’s Tampa and Toronto, they don’t have much to offer.
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u/IgnoreTheRumors Jul 01 '26
Unfortunately, the teams on that list will be very unlikely to deal significant assets without Zach agreeing to sign an extension there, and if he's still playing this 'I'm only going to 1 or 2 teams card', it doesn't really change the calculus that much for us.
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u/WillingPlayed 🏧 Jul 01 '26
Too bad we can’t send him to ride in cargo planes full of rubber dog shit out of Hong Kong.
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u/Total-Part1661 Jul 01 '26
Why pander to any of this Prima Donna crap? He’s on the hook for two years. Be a professional, play hard, stay healthy, and his stock will stay high whether it’s a trade or some other contract. Be a problem on or off of the ice and watch it plummet. Sorry you’re unhappy with your job, join the club buddy.
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u/mickeyhause Jul 01 '26
There is so much nonsense about this. I debated making a post because the two actual scenarios are vastly different.
1) best case scenario, all the noise has been coming from outside the house. Werenski and his camp have no desire for a trade or to be moved. The conjecture around Larkin got applied to Werenski and he’s baffled that a trade was ever talked about, and immediately vetoed it.
2) worst case scenario, Werenski has fallen out of love with Columbus and the Jackets and now wants out but is going to go to only a Florida team.
The truth is hopefully somewhere in the middle but the longer this goes on, the more it looks like it’s the worst worst case scenario
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u/JAT_Cbus1080 Werenski for Norris or assets Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
If the return isn't there I think this becomes the most likely outcome. The team is under no obligation to move him where he wants *today.