Zach Werenski, the 28-year-old defensive anchor of the Columbus Blue Jackets, has been named the 2025-26 James Norris Memorial Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman. The honor caps a monster campaign in which Werenski racked up 22 goals, 59 assists and 81 points, leading Columbus in assists, total points, and shots on goal. It stands as the biggest individual milestone of his decade-long run with the franchise.
The NHL revealed Werenski as the Norris winner with a surprise trophy delivery at his home, a moment captured on video by the league, according to NHL.com. The James Norris Memorial Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and is awarded each year to the defenseman judged to have shown the greatest all-around ability at the position.
Werenski by the numbers
Those 22 goals, 59 assists, and 81 points were highlighted in the team’s own breakdown and left Werenski as the club leader in assists, points, and shots on goal for the season, according to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The club also notes that Werenski is the franchise’s all-time assists leader with 330 helpers and sits second in overall points at 465, a testament to his steady production over 10 seasons in Columbus.
Those career totals, stacked on top of this year’s surge, have helped cement Werenski as a regular in any conversation about the league’s elite blueliners.
Why it matters in Columbus
Werenski is now the seventh Blue Jacket to capture a major NHL award, joining a company that includes Rick Nash, Sergei Bobrovsky, and John Tortorella, as reported by 10TV. The Norris win arrives on the heels of a tight race in recent years, including Werenski’s second-place finish in voting last season behind Cale Makar, a storyline tracked in national award coverage this year, per ESPN.
For Columbus, this is a rare piece of major-league individual hardware and a clear marker of Werenski’s status as a franchise cornerstone. The trophy caps one of the most decorated stretches in team history and gives Blue Jackets fans a high-wattage moment to ride into the offseason.
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