The NHL announced Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar as this year's Norris Trophy recipient on Wednesday. Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski finished as the first runner-up for the award.
Despite not winning the Norris, there is no reason to be disappointed here. Zach had easily the best season of his NHL career, and one of the best for any player to ever don the Union Blue.
Playing in 81 games, he set franchise records across the board for a defenseman; with 23 goals, 59 assists and 82 points. Those 82 points tie him with Artemi Panarin for second most by any player in franchise history. The team record is 87 points, also held by Panarin.
Werenski was a different player this season. His previous career highs in goals (20), assists (46) and points (57) were all obliterated in a year where he led the Jackets in scoring by 8 points. In a lot of years, this would be good enough for him to win the Norris Trophy.
Unfortunately, there's that guy in Colorado. Cale Makar scored 30 goals and 92 points in 80 games this year for the high flying Avalanche. It's hard to complain about Zach not beating him in the voting for the Norris Trophy this year.
With that said, I would argue that what Werenski did was more impressive than maybe any other player in the league. In a season that began with an unthinkable tragedy, he stepped his game up and reached a level none of us expected him to get to. As a result, he nearly willed the Blue Jackets into a playoff spot.
Simply put, the Jackets were a different team with him on the ice. His 26:45 average time on ice per game led the league by more than a full minute, and it's easy to see why head coach Dean Evason trusted him so heavily this year. Zach was on the ice for 134 of the team's 267 goal this season - slightly over half. He was on the ice for 108 of their 267 against, so the value here is pretty obvious.
Digging deeper, his 52.3% CF rating led all defensemen on the team. In fact, only one other player (his partner, Dante Fabbro at 50.1%) was on the right side of this metric. Every other defenseman who suited up for this team spent more time defending than they did attacking.
However you want to break it down, his value was through the roof for this organization this season. Had the team made the playoffs, I think he would have gotten serious love for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. It was that strong of a season from #8 on the blue line.
This season ranks right up there with 2008-09 Rick Nash as one of the best by an individual player in franchise history. The only real difference here is that the Jackets just missed the playoffs this year; as opposed to squeaking into the postseason in 09.
But, if you ask me, considering the circumstances surrounding this season and combining that with the fact that Zach is a defenseman: we just witnessed the best individual season in franchise history. I hope he can keep playing at such a high level. It will be great news for this team as they forge ahead to greater things.