Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has found his way into the franchise record books on Friday evening after the 22-year-old netted his 17th goal of the season, the most by a defenseman in the club's 20-year history.
There are plenty of reasons to celebrate the success that the team has experienced in what was expected to be more of a transition year, after losing Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Dzingel and Matt Duchene to free agency in the summer, but Friday night belongs to Werenski, as he moves ahead of Seth Jones, with whom he shared the previous record of 16 goals in 2017-18.
Werenski is in the midst of his 4th NHL season and, prior to his record-breaking goal on Friday night, he has managed to record an impressive 160 points through 284 career NHL games.
A former first round draft selection (8th overall in 2015), Werenski signed a 3-year, $15M deal this past summer and, thus far, the Jackets seem to be getting their money's worth from the youngster.
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