The headline of this one might sound dramatic, but the truth is staring the Columbus Blue Jackets in the face. If the rumblings around Zach Werenski ever turn real, if he follows his best friend Dylan Larkin’s path and asks out, it wouldn’t just be another setback for a franchise already intimately familiar with them. It would mark yet another beginning of the end for a franchise already fighting the label of being the NHL’s worst over its 25‑year existence.
LeBrun on #CBJ/Werenski:
— The CBJ Center (@CBJcenter) June 10, 2026
“…I can tell you as of Wednesday afternoon, I’m told there has not been any communication to the Columbus Blue Jackets indicating [a trade request from] Werenski, who has two more years on his deal.” https://t.co/McYtI3NLJI
CBJ fans might be hopeful, in the moment, that there would be an equal-value hockey-first trade out there, given Z’s exceptional value in mock trades that would surface, but recent history shows us that getting equal value back for a franchise-level player isn’t possible.
The two most recent like kind examples of franchise-level players requesting out are Matthew Tkachuk in Calgary and Quinn Hughes in Vancouver. Anyone that has followed the NHL over the past few seasons knows exactly where both of those clubs currently are on the cycle of rebuild vs contention: rock bottom.
In the summer of 2022, Matthew Tkachuk was dealt in a sign-and-trade deal that sent him to Florida in exchange for Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, prospect Cole Schwindt, and a lottery-protected 2025 first-round pick.
I remember, at the time, some individuals mocked the trade and said that Florida had overpaid for Tkachuk, especially in sending what seemed like a similar calibre of player in Huberdeau.
Boy, they couldn’t have been more wrong.
Tkachuk is wrapping up his first season of missing the playoffs in Florida after heading to three straight Stanley Cup Finals, winning two, after the Panthers broke down in health this season following their insane amount of games they had to play over the three previous seasons.
Meanwhile, Huberdeau has bottomed out in production in Calgary, and the Flames began a complete and utter tear down and rebuild this season and last as they begin working their way back to contention in the future.
Quinn Hughes was dealt from Vancouver to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a massive haul including center Marco Rossi, winger Liam Ohgren, defenseman Zeev Buium, and a 2026 first-round pick.
The Wild missed out on advancing to the Western Conference Finals after being bullied around in the faceoff dot, but still look to be contenders heading into next season, especially if they can add Dylan Larkin as is rumored.
Meanwhile, the Canucks hit rock bottom this season, and found themselves pushed out of both first and second place in the NHL Entry Draft, and find themselves picking third in two weeks.
The examples are sprinkled throughout NHL history: the team giving up the franchise player never gets equal immediate value back in return, and almost always enters a rebuild soon thereafter.
Don Waddell has his work cut out for him: he has to find a way to bring in more immediate talent this summer as the Blue Jackets attempt to make it back to the postseason for the first time in seven seasons by that point, or he may find himself overseeing yet another rebuild for a franchise that has seen far too many of them in its short history.
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