By Canadian Press

‘He’s ridiculous’: Rookie defenceman Zach Werenski is turning heads this season

Dec 6, 2016 | 8:00 AM

Zach Werenski jammed his entire senior year of high school into one summer so he could attend the University of Michigan a year early.

The 17-year-old was already a week into classes in Ann Arbor when he returned home to Grosse Pointe, Mich., for a final high school exam.

“Thank God I passed and I got into school, but it was pretty crazy,” Werenski recalled more than two years later.

The NHL’s second-youngest defensive regular this season — only Arizona’s Jakob Chychrun is younger — has always been precocious.

Werenski, who turned 19 in July, has been right there with Patrik Laine, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as one of the most impactful rookies through two months this season, despite playing the difficult position of defence.

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Heading into Tuesday’s play, he trailed only Laine, Matthews and Marner in scoring among first-year players with 17 points through his first 24 games, and was tied with veteran Duncan Keith for seventh among all NHL defencemen.

The eighth overall pick of the 2015 draft, Werenski was named the NHL’s rookie of the month for November.

Leaping so high at such a young age is nothing new for Werenski, who’s been thriving with older players for years. Though he was born in 1997, Werenski played most of his childhood years alongside ’96-born kids, including Detroit Red Wings emerging star Dylan Larkin, a childhood friend.

Werenski arrived at Michigan, a factory for developing NHLers, as the youngest player in the NCAA and immediately proved to be the Wolverines best defenceman according to then-teammate Zach Hyman.

“He looked like a senior, just the way he was built,” Hyman said of Werenski, now listed at six foot two and 218 pounds.

Brett Pesce, now a Carolina Hurricanes defenceman, was playing for the University of New Hampshire when he faced off against Werenski early in that underage freshman season.

“I remember our coach saying ‘This kid’s the real deal,’” Pesce recalled.

Despite his age, Werenski finished the year as the conference leader among defencemen in goals (9) and second in points (25).

When Michigan approached him about jumping to college after his junior year of high school, Werenski wasn’t concerned about hockey. The NHL had long been in his sights, especially after he was selected for the prestigious national team program.

Werenski was more wary about stepping into college life when he was still a kid, albeit one who looked a lot older. 

Werenski, who finished second in NCAA scoring among defencemen as a sophomore, grew up about an hour’s drive from the campus in Ann Arbor and 25 minutes or so from Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Red Wings reigned supreme in Grosse Pointe, a small community of less than 6,000 people. Werenski was a fan from birth and attended 10 or 15 games a season, securing tickets from friends or his aunt and uncle, who had season seats.

He studied Nicklas Lidstrom, the Hall of Fame defenceman, most closely. It was the calmness that struck a chord, how the long-time Wings great never looked rushed when he was making plays. He always in the right place, rarely requiring a physical tenor to impact the game defensively. 

“Obviously it’s hard to emulate what he did on the ice, but being a young kid you kind of pick up on stuff he did,” Werenski said. “I think for me that was a perfect guy to watch.”

Though it’s folly to compare someone with 24 career NHL games to a Hall of Famer, Werenski sticks out for his poise. Even when opponents are scheming aggressively to steal the puck Werenski shows no signs of panic, never hurried to make a play before it’s there. 

“It’s ridiculous huh?” Matthews, the Leafs centre and a former teammate with the national team, said.

Asked why Matthews replied incredulously: “I don’t know honestly, he’s ridiculous. He’s gross.”

Matthews was expecting Werenski to emerge quickly to Columbus, even telling Jackets captain (and world championship teammate) Nick Foligno to get ready for a “great player” before the season got rolling.

“He makes everything look easy, even to the point where people almost think he’s lackadaisical but that’s definitely not the case,” Matthews said. 

Columbus was intrigued when they saw Werenski perform as a 17-year-old for the U.S. at the world junior championships.

His instincts first grabbed the attention of the team’s general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who saw eyes that were always up, always scanning the ice for the best possible play. Even among mostly older players in that tournament, the game seemed easy for him.

The Jackets excitement intensified last spring when Werenski joined the Lake Erie Monsters, their AHL affiliate, and helped them to a Calder Cup with 14 points in 17 games. 

“We’re kind of like ‘Wow! That’s pretty good. He might be able to do that in the NHL too,’” Kekalainen recalled.

Werenski has since stepped into the NHL and thrived, a force alongside 22-year-old Seth Jones on the Jackets’ top pair and a capable quarterback of one of the league’s top power plays. He scored his sixth goal of the season and played a team-leading (tied) 21 minutes in a 4-1 win over Arizona on Monday night.

“It’s almost like nothing rattles him,” Kekalainen said. “He does not look like a 19-year-old kid.”

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version misspelled Ann Arbor.