A Norris Trophy Winner in Columbus. A Trade Demand Coming? NHL Execs Think So.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have had exactly one truly great thing going for them over the last half decade. His name is Zach Werenski. And according to a report from The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun on Monday, the rest of the league is starting to wonder how long that will last.

LeBrun didn’t report that Werenski has asked out. He made that clear. But he also wrote that executives around the NHL believe a trade request is coming within the next 12 months. That’s a meaningful distinction. It’s not a rumor of a rift. It’s a prediction based on how these things tend to go when a superstar defenseman in his prime watches his team miss the playoffs for the sixth straight year.

Werenski just won his first Norris Trophy. He put up 81 points in 75 games while logging over 26 minutes a night. He’s 28 years old. He’s been in Columbus since they drafted him eighth overall in 2015. And he’s said all the right things publicly about wanting to win there. But the Blue Jackets have won exactly two playoff rounds in franchise history. Two. Since Werenski joined the roster, they’ve made the postseason twice and won a combined one series.

You don’t have to squint to see the pattern.

The Broader Trend Across the NHL

This isn’t happening in a vacuum. Brady Tkachuk reportedly requested a trade out of Ottawa and got moved to Florida to join his brother. Dylan Larkin asked for a change of scenery in Detroit. Darnell Nurse did the same in Edmonton. Star players are increasingly unwilling to burn their prime years on teams that can’t build around them.

Werenski might be the biggest name of the bunch if he ultimately goes that route. Elite offensive defensemen don’t grow on trees. A 28-year-old Norris winner with term left on his deal would command a return that resets a franchise’s future. The Blue Jackets would get a haul. But they’d also be admitting they couldn’t keep their one genuine star.

And that’s the part that stings for Columbus fans. The organization says it’s building around Werenski. They haven’t shopped him. He hasn’t asked to leave. But the league is watching the calendar. If the Blue Jackets stumble out of the gate next season, the noise is only going to get louder.

For now it’s speculation. But it’s the kind of speculation that tends to age into fact. And if one of the best blueliners in hockey becomes available, the trade deadline next March is going to look a whole lot different than anybody expected.