The worst is confirmed for Zach Werenski

There was feeling the news was not going to be good on Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski. But now it has been confirmed that this is the worst possible.

Last night, the blue liner left the game against the Philadelphia Flyers after suffering an upper body injury. On Friday, the team announced that Werenski is done for the regular season. He suggested a separated shoulder and torn labrum last night, per insider Chris Johnston.

The injury took place in the first period as Werenski went for a hit on Flyers forward Travis Konecny. Werenski missed Konecny only to end up falling awkwardly into the boards. He had one goal and one assist in 6:03 of ice time before leaving the game - and this is going to be in last stat of 2022-23…

Vladislav Gavrikov replaced Werenski on the top pair alongside Nick Blankenburg in the game. Columbus will however have to call up someone from the Cleveland Monsters to replace Werenski.

This is terrible news for both the Blue Jackets and Werenski, who was off to a strong start this year, with three goals and eight points in 13 games for the Blue Jackets. He’s coming off a career high in points last season, where he had 11 goals, 37 assists, and 48 points in 68 games in his first season leading the Blue Jackets blue line without Seth Jones.

On top of that terrible news, the Jackets have also lost defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who will miss 6 to 8 weeks with a broken ankle.