4 Nations Face-Off could help Werenski reach another level with Blue Jackets

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2024-25 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher.

In this edition, Don Granato, a former assistant with the St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres, and head coach with the Sabres, writes about one of his former players, Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski.

As coaches, it's our job to push people to achieve more. It's understood that we have to push people out of their comfort zone, and for most people, this encompasses telling them something they don't want to hear: "More discipline, more sacrifice and development" or "The need to play within the system."

For a unique few, it's the opposite. They are told what every player would love to be told. In a not-formal way, they are told that they are special. These are the few that have seemingly no limit to their potential, the truly gifted that need only a bit more support to fuel a confidence necessary to become dominant. I've been fortunate to be around several guys like this. Auston Matthews, Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes and Patrick Kane come to mind, but there's a sleeping giant I've been anticipating an emergence from, and he is Zach Werenski.

I coached Werenski with the U17 team at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program in 2013-14. As Zach's confidence started to take off, I began pushing him in a different way, telling him, "You are talented enough, and if you work hard enough, you can win the Norris Trophy." My thought was, "This is not unrealistic, and it may be just the nudge Zach needs to go after his potential with more confidence and conviction." I knew he was as talented as any elite player I'd been around, and I felt he should look at himself in that manner as well, so why not challenge him with the thought of becoming the top defenseman in the NHL one day?

Fast forward to today: He has established himself as a Norris Trophy candidate this season and will participate in two marquee NHL events.

The 27-year-old has 54 points (16 goals, 38 assists) in 50 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets and competing with two Norris winners to lead NHL defenseman in scoring: Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (56 points; 18 goals, 38 assists in 51 games) and Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks (56 points; 14 goals, 42 assists in 45 games).

Zach will play for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off, a best-on-best tournament against Canada, Finland and Sweden in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20. Then he and the Blue Jackets will face the Detroit Red Wings in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1 (6 p.m. ET; ESPN, TVAS-D, FX-CA).

Back in 2013-14, believe it or not, he was a very conservative 16-year-old. He had 31 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 47 games for the U17 team that season, plus one goal in four games for the U18 team.

For some players, their confidence exceeds their ability, and it can work out for a certain type of player, because it pushes them to achieve. They become very competitive. Those are the overachievers, and for these players, their survival is predicated on overachieving.

Then there's the group -- and it's a rare group -- of players whose confidence doesn't match their ability. For Zach, as I saw him as a young player, you could see that was the case. Here's a guy with a lot more ability than he has confidence in himself, and so we had to push him to gain that confidence and even a little swagger.

Swagger can be misinterpreted sometimes as cockiness or overconfidence. It's not, necessarily. It's not disrespectful. To me, it's just a confidence that's in line with your ability and your willingness to work.

Zach is very respectful. He really values his team and his teammates even more than his individual success, and he was so concerned about his positional responsibilities as a defenseman that he wasn't using his immense skill set to his advantage. I can remember talking with the coaches, saying, "We have to come up with some drills for our defensemen to get them up in the rush." Basically, we overcompensated. We had him jumping and leading the rush at times. We made that a big focal point with that group of defensemen with Werenski in mind specifically.

It appears Columbus coach Dean Evason has given Werenski more offensive freedom this season, and with injuries to forward Boone Jenner and defenseman Erik Gudbranson the Blue Jackets have needed Werenski to step up as a leader. Dean is a heck of a good coach. With what that team has gone through, there has been a need for people to rise. Zach has worn a letter as an alternate captain. He's grown into that. He, I think, sensed and feels an obligation to the team and a need to elevate to help the team.

The 4 Nations could help Werenski reach another level. Any time these guys go to an All-Star Game or play a next-level competition, it's a catapult for them. Something clicks, and they realize how elite they are and how accomplished they've become. When I coached the Sabres, I thought it was significant when defenseman Rasmus Dahlin went to the NHL All-Star Game for the first time in 2022. I thought, "This is going to elevate his self-image appropriate to his skill level."

Zach has played the NHL All-Star Game twice (2018, 2022), but for all the players who go to the 4 Nations, it's arguably the highest level of hockey they'll ever play, because there's going to be more than four teams in the Olympics. Outside of the superstars, it's going to elevate their self-image.

Knowing Zach, knowing his personality traits and his skill set, the best is still ahead for him.