Werenski, healthy Jones reunited on defense pair with Blue Jackets

COLUMBUS --The smile beneath the work-in-progress mustache of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski expressed his delight at the return of partner Seth Jones.

They played together on the same pair nearly every game since Werenski's 2016-17 rookie season before Jones fractured his right ankle against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 8 and missed 14 games.

After the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, Jones is healthy again, and they've been reunited at Blue Jackets training camp leading up to their Stanley Cup Qualifier series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I think even today just playing our first scrimmage together, the chemistry we have is good," Werenski said Wednesday. "I've played with him for four years. With him out of the lineup, it's hard to adjust to a new partner. You know, all our defensemen are great, it's easy to play with everyone, but when you play with a guy for 280 out of 300 games, you start to gain that chemistry."

Werenski, despite leading NHL defensemen with 20 goals this season, a Columbus record for the position, said he struggled without Jones; Werenski scored 33 points (17 goals, 16 assists) in 49 games with Jones in the lineup and scored eight points (three goals, five assists) in the 14 games without him.

"It was a learning process for me," Werenski said. "I don't think I played the best hockey I could have played. I think I could have stepped up more, played better. But you know, those are all things that you have to kind of go through and experience, and when he went down that was a new experience for me."

Jones, who scored 30 points (six goals, 24 assists) in 56 games prior to his injury, said he thinks Werenski is too critical.

"He's so gifted," Jones said. "Especially as we started getting injured this year, he was a guy that we leaned on offensively and he delivered. When he was on the ice, there's always something happening offensively that was positive."

The ninth-seeded Blue Jackets (33-22-15, .579 points percentage) will rely heavily on Jones and Werenski when they play the eighth-seeded Maple Leafs (36-25-9, .579). The best-of-5 series will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the Eastern Conference hub city, starting Aug. 2. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the loser will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Aug. 10.

"When [Jones] and [Werenski] are playing together, that dictates our pace," Columbus coach John Tortorella said.

Werenski and Jones also have been working together on the power play at practice, something they've rarely done in games.

"They read off one another so well we wanted to try them on a power-play unit," Tortorella said. "... We're going to get them on the ice as much as we possibly can. Good things happen when they're on the ice together. So, we want to look at them as far as the power play. We still haven't made a final decision as far as what our groups go like, but we certainly want to take a look at it early in camp."

Werenski, who turns 23 on Sunday, said he needs to get to another level to match Jones, a 25-year-old who has been a three-time selection to the NHL All-Star Game.

"I think we just read off each other and we're both kind of offensive-minded," Werenski said. "He's such a good skater and I think he knows what I want to do when he has the puck, and when I'm jumping into holes, he can find me.

"I know how he plays, what he wants to do when he has the puck, when he doesn't. I always know that if I'm up in the play he's going to be there covering for me. We trust each other a lot. We work off each other. It's been a good pairing the past three and a half, four seasons, and hopefully we can continue to grow together."