Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Werenski, Jenner & Marchment – The Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets

Tuesday night was a whirlwind of activity around the Zach Werenski situation. Wednesday became a day of trying to calm the situation down. At least for now, that seems to have been accomplished.

Welcome back to Columbus Blue Jackets News & Rumors, the first one for the 2026-27 season. This first day of free agency still saw many signings including those of a couple big names. There were some trades too.

But the biggest story in the NHL was what would happen to Werenski. Let’s try to reset the situation.

Werenski Vetoes Trade To Dallas

As first reported by TSN’s and the Athletic’s Chris Johnston, Werenski was presented with a trade option to a team he was unwilling to waive his no-move clause for. The insider reiterated that a trade request was not made but that honest talks about the future took place.

It later came out that the team that reportedly was involved was the Dallas Stars. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Thomas Harley was going to be the centerpiece of the package coming back to the Blue Jackets.

Werenski reportedly vetoed the deal as it was believed he wanted to stay east.

Flash forward to Wednesday. Free agency was underway. Teams such as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs among others were seeing if they could land a deal for the Norris Trophy winner. Instead, TSN’s Darren Dreger came out with an update on Werenski’s situation.

Sounds like Werenski, his agent Judd Moldaver, and CBJ GM Don Waddell spoke today in an effort to clear the air and calm things down. Werenski is comfortable going back to CBJ. Waddell could present him with a trade in the meantime, but that isn’t on the radar at this point.

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) July 1, 2026

The key points mentioned are Werenski is comfortable going back to the Blue Jackets and that a trade isn’t on the radar at this point.

The belief going back to what we heard at the draft was that Werenski was open to a Blue Jackets’ return in 2026-27 knowing there were still two years left on this deal.

Then later on Wednesday afternoon, both Waddell and Werenski released statements. You can read those below.

Waddell: “Earlier this spring, Zach and I met and talked about his future with the Blue Jackets beyond his current contract and he indicated that he wasn’t sure what the future would hold with regards to staying with the club or possibly moving on.  During those discussions, we talked about me exploring opportunities to move him now and we all agreed if there was a deal to be made that I would bring it to him.

We found something that would work for the club and took it to him.  After some time and discussions with his family, Zach informed us that he didn’t want to leave Columbus.  He has invested a great deal in this organization and after coming close and falling short the past two seasons, his desire is to win here and get this team back into the playoffs.

The past two seasons have been very challenging ones, but also ones of growth for our team.  Our goals from ownership on down and Zach’s goals are the same… to win now, return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and win a Stanley Cup.  Our city and fans deserve nothing less and we are all on the same page working towards that end.  Zach has been a very important part of this organization and our community for a long time, and we couldn’t be happier that he will continue to be moving forward.”

Werenski: “Don and I have had very open and honest dialogue since the season ended. Ideally, this wouldn’t have become such a public thing but that is the world we live in now and everything got blown out of proportion in my opinion. I want to win and I want to do that in Columbus. As I’ve thought about things and discussed everything with my wife and family, we want to be in Columbus. It has been my home for the past 10 years and I have always been proud to be a Blue Jacket. We have the best fans in the NHL. I love my teammates and coaches and I’m looking forward to doing everything I can to get us back in the playoffs to compete for a Stanley Cup. Don and I are completely aligned on that and are excited about what’s to come with our team.”

The statements show that both the team and Werenski are excited about what’s to come. After a crazy few hours on Tuesday night, things have very much settled down.

The question now becomes what do the Blue Jackets have in store for other moves to show how serious they are about winning in the immediate future? And how will fans react to the latest developments?

Jenner & Marchment Leave

This was widely expected, but both Boone Jenner and Mason Marchment found new teams on the first day of free agency. Jenner is now a member of the Washington Capitals while Marchment is a member of the San Jose Sharks.

Waddell previously told the Hockey Writers that term was going to be an issue in both these cases. Jenner got four years and Marchment got five years. Given what other business the Blue Jackets have to take care of, there was no way they could give what these players got on the open market except if other players were moved out.

For Jenner, he leaves the Blue Jackets as their longest-tenured player by seasons and games played. He played 13 seasons and 808 regular season games. He spent the last five seasons as the team’s captain.

Jenner chose the Blue Jackets on multiple occasions even though star players left at different points throughout his tenure. He has seen the ups and downs of the franchise from being part of the Lightning sweep to the mass exodus of players after the Toronto bubble. Yet, he remained loyal to Columbus and spent his entire career from the time he was drafted in 2011 until Wednesday.

Both the player and team expressed interest at different points in trying to find an agreement. But the gap was too wide. Waddell said he would be happy if Jenner got what he was looking for. It’s safe to say the $23 million was exactly was he was looking for.

Jenner will be remembered for his style on the ice always bringing his teammates into the fight. He was a community champion and represented the Blue Jackets well. Injuries ultimately took away parts of the last few seasons which played a part in deciding to not re-sign him.

As for Marchment, he was acquired from the Seattle Kraken last season. He helped the Blue Jackets get back into the playoff race before falling off at the end.

Injuries also caught up to Marchment. Given how thin the free-agent market was, someone was going to give him his payday. The Sharks did that. His cap hit is $6.75 million over the next five seasons.

Marchment’s time with the Blue Jackets helped him in the market after a rough tenure with the Kraken. His style of play is unique and should be able to help a Sharks’ team looking to take the next step.

The Blue Jackets tried to re-sign Marchment but weren’t willing to go to that term or AAV. Given the uncertainty around Kirill Marchenko’s situation, we’ll see how the team elects to try to fill in after the losses of both Jenner and Marchment.