Three Potential Trade Fits For Zach Werenski

What team could match the value regarding a Zach Werenski trade?

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has mentioned that the American defenseman is out there and referred to a few destinations that could trade for Werenski this offseason on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

Werenski finished the 2025-26 season scoring 22 goals for 81 points in 75 games this season. He received 113 first-place votes en route to winning a Norris Trophy. beating Colorado’s Cale Makar and Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin to win the best defenseman award. The 28-year-old led the Blue Jackets in assists, points, points-per-game, and finished third in goals. He became the 10th defenseman in NHL history to lead his team in scoring in consecutive campaigns, scoring 82 points in 2024-25.

But if there were teams that could inquire about the defenseman’s services, they’d have to pony up a big package to bring him back in a deal. Friedman also mentioned that Werenski would want to go to a team that has a chance to win. Whichever team gets him would have his deal on a short window, and compared to the Quinn Hughes situation in Minnesota, that team will have to ensure they can convince Werenski that they’re on the right track. Part of this also falls on Columbus GM Don Waddell in getting the best value for his star blue-liner.

The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native is set to enter the fifth season of a six-year contract that he signed back in July of 2021 with a total value of $57.5MM (9.583MM AAV). He’s spent his entire career in Columbus, signing a three-year $15MM ($5MM) deal in 2019 and his entry-level contract, which paid him $925K annually from 2016 to 2019. After being taken eighth overall in 2015 by Columbus, Werenski spent his post-draft season with the University of Michigan, scoring 36 points in 36 games.

It’s important to mention here that Werenski has a full no-movement clause in his contract until next year-end. In terms of teams that can fit and can provide a valuable return, Friedman mentioned a few options.

San Jose Sharks

The Sharks could accelerate their rebuild into a playoff-contending window by trading for Werenski if they believe their roster can get there. Friedman wondered how long it would take before San Jose becomes a prime destination for NHLers to want to sign, and if the Sharks aren’t progressing into the playoffs out west soon, it could take a little longer than expected to become attractive. If Columbus wanted to acquire futures, the Sharks have a large surplus of those kinds of assets that they can afford to trade for Werenski. The question is, would they press the button, based on the team’s current pedigree in the East?

$39.4MM is a lot of cap space to work with this summer for San Jose, and four of their defensemen are set to head to market, two of whom are left-handed, making Dmitry Orlov ($6.5MM AAV) the highest-paid lefty defender for 2026-27. After next season, the Sharks will also benefit from open money getting off the buyouts of Martin Jones and Marc-Edouard Vlasic and the retained salary of Erik Karlsson.

Dallas Stars

The Stars signed Thomas Harley to an eight-year extension that will pay him above $10MM in AAV until 2034. The 24-year-old takes up a good chunk of the $32.5MM cap hit paid to all Dallas defenders. Friedman thinks the Stars are interested, but how would Harley feel about being in that deal after committing in Texas for eight years?