Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is entering the Norris Trophy conversation with authority

The Blue Jackets won a drag race against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. After going down 3-0 in the first period, the game's first TV timeout allowed them to regroup and find their game. Sean Monahan gave us a glimmer of hope late in the first, making it 3-1 before the intermission. Little did we know at the time, the second period would be one of the wildest periods in franchise history.

Both teams struck early and often in the middle frame and by the 6:18 mark of the period, the game that started out 3-1, was now 5-5. The good guys would ultimately win this wild battle with a 7-6 overtime victory, on a goal from Zach Werenski - his fifth point of the night.

With that goal, Zach ties a long-standing franchise record, becoming the 7th player - and first defenseman - to record 5 points in a game. I'll admit to being biased here, but it's time we started talking about Zach on a much larger scale. He should absolutely be in consideration for the Norris Trophy at the quarter mark of this NHL season.

He's at the top of the league in some very meaningful categories...

Currently, there are five players in the NHL who are averaging more than 25 minutes per game. Zach Werenski is at the very top, with an average of 25:46 per night - three seconds ahead of his former defense partner Seth Jones. Werenski is playing heavy minutes in all situations, against top opposition each and every night - and he has a positive +/- rating for a team with a negative goal differential.

Now, it's worth noting that while the Norris Trophy is often thought of as a trophy for the most prolific scorer from the blue line. But, even from that perspective, Zach should certainly be in the conversation. Amongst those five ice time leaders, only one other - Quinn Hughes - is averaging a point-per-game, and he's regularly talked about as a Norris contender.

Both have 19 points, which has them tied with Josh Morrissey for second in the league amongst blue liners, only behind Cale Makar. Makar is on a different level (28 points), but he's also on a team with two players who have as many or more points than him. And, Morrissey's 19 points are "only" good enough for fourth on the Jets. These two play for much higher scoring teams. This tells me that Werenski and Hughes are performing at such a high level that they're carrying their respective teams offensively.

If you want the deeper stats per MoneyPuck, Zach is also second amongst all defensemen in xGF/60 minutes (Dougie Hamilton), and third in created goals/60 (Roman Josi, Cale Makar). In short, he's playing really, really well. At an elite level offensively.

Finding the right partner has made all the difference...

It hasn't been easy for Werenski or the Blue Jackets this year, but he seems to have found the right defense partner. Of his 6 goals and 19 points on the season, virtually half of them have come in the last four games. He was first paired with waiver pickup Dante Fabbro, 5 games ago. The pair is responsible for a combined 4 goals and 12 points in their last four games.

It's worth pointing out that Fabbro's game seems to perfectly mesh with Werenski, and the two both seem to be playing some of the best hockey of their careers. Fingers crossed here, hopefully the Blue Jackets have found a true top defense pair, in an unexpected way. They've been so good that Werenski was just named NHLPA player of the week. His 9 points in 4 games led the entire NHL in scoring.

To sum this all up, if you asked me to submit a Norris Trophy ballot right now, my list looks like this: Cale Makar, Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes. Put them in whatever order you'd like, but Werenski absolutely deserves to be mentioned in that group based on his early season play.