Blue Jacket GM Waddell to Meet Werenski “In Near Future” – Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets

The biggest story regarding the Columbus Blue Jackets is the future of Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski. On Thursday afternoon in his previous availability, GM Don Waddell provided updates but did not want to share everything.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first to report that Werenski would meet with the Blue Jackets after the draft. Although a time was not shared Thursday, Waddell acknowledged that a meeting will be held soon.

Waddell Speaks

“There are issues we’re dealing with that should stay inside,” Waddell said. “My plan is to meet Zach soon and see where he is.”

Waddell took it a step further and said he had already had a conversation with Werenski’s agent, Judd Moldaver. But so far, nothing has been set in stone about what’s coming next.

“We’ve had some discussions with his agent, but there’s no definite plan,” Waddell said.

Waddell was asked if it would be beneficial to have a meeting before the draft to allow the Blue Jackets the option to do something if they need to. GM believes that this situation does not affect how they will handle this draft.

“You don’t touch the frame at all, obviously,” Waddell said. “We’re still trying to make deals to make our team better. That might include (picking) the draft we have at 14. But our goal hasn’t changed since the end of the season. We know we want to try to get better and we’re going to keep working on that. This will prepare itself over time.”

Waddell was asked if he was surprised by how things turned out in terms of how this came to light.

“I guess nothing surprises me. Obviously, we knew what happened somewhere north of us. I was watching that situation to see how that would play out. It’s not the first time this has happened. If you go back over the years, there’s been a lot of players, Eichel going to Vegas from Buffalo. But generally, we don’t like other situations now.”

“He says he’s surprised. I’m never surprised when anything happens in this league. But it’s something we have to face and we will face it.”

A Message To The Fans

We’ll go into more detail about what Waddell said about the draft in an upcoming episode. In the meantime, The Hockey Writers were able to ask Waddell what his current message is to fans in light of the sudden uncertainty surrounding Werenski’s future and what gives him confidence that the Blue Jackets are still on the right track no matter how the situation plays out.

“We’ve taken, I believe, steps in the last two years,” Waddell said. “We’re definitely not where we need to be and that’s a playoff game. It’s my job as general manager to make sure we meet the needs and fill the needs that we feel will take us to that next step regardless of who the players are we’re talking about.”

“I think, supporting and bringing back Rick (Bowness), I think the players when I met them at the end of the season they all really supported him and gave him a vote of confidence. I think the players are looking forward to coming back and playing for Rick. I think he’s done a great job. And now, he has all the time to plan. I know he’s planning well. I know he’s serious about starting the season. I know we’re going to talk to him every day. That’s why I think that’s also a benefit for us to have Rick plan all summer.”

“The goal is to be a better team. The personnel is obviously one thing. The structure and everything that plays a part. The team that plays together, we had some games last year where we gave up the lead especially in the first half of the year. I think we had 10 games where we gave up the lead by two goals and we won three of them. Those are the things that I think our coaching staff and the structure that we put in to get a big step to get more players.”

Obviously, there is much more to come from this. It is important to note that in no way does Waddell claim that there is a legitimate trade request. That is in line with various reports indicating that an official request has not been made to date. But if we say the choice was to keep things in, it leaves the question about what is known and what comes next.

We will see where everything goes. It reinforces the magnitude of what’s next for the Blue Jackets at a time in their franchise that they need something good to happen.