Blue Jackets head coach says he’s as shocked as anyone about Zach Werenski wanting out of Columbus

NHL free agency gets underway on Wednesday, but this has been a weird offseason in that there seems to be more talk about players who have asked for trades than we are about players about to hit the open market.

One of the most shocking of these is Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who told GM Don Waddell he wants out just weeks after locking up the Norris Trophy as the top blueliner in the NHL.

In fact, it was such a surprise that even his head coach was blindsided by the request.

"I’m as shocked as anyone that these came up," Bowness said, per The Athletic. "I mean, at the end of the year meetings, we looked each other in the eye and had great meetings and gave each other a hug leaving, and all that.

"So everything was good. So when all of this broke, I was shocked and caught off-guard like everyone else."

Werenski — whose current deal runs through 2027-28 — wasn't the only player who wanted out. Forward Kirill Marchenko also told the team he wants a change of scenery.

Still, it was a major surprise.

Sure, the end of the Blue Jackets' season was an unmitigated disaster, and that final stretch of the season is why they whiffed on the postseason. It happens, and they owned it.

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But the rest of the season looked pretty promising, and the fiery post-regular-season message from Bowness probably should've had players fired up.

Maybe not, for at least two of them.

And, while it's never a good look to have a player wanting out like this, especially after they win a Norris Trophy, at least that accolade increases Werenski's trade value.

If the Jackets can strike a deal, they should be getting a pretty hefty haul in return, because a D-man of Werenski's caliber is not always easy to come by.