Last, but certainly not least, we have Seth Jones and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets coming in as the best defensive pairing in the NHL heading into the 2020-21 season. Both blueliners have the prototypical frame, ability to score from anywhere on the ice, mobility, 200-foot game, and poise that make up a franchise defenseman. What makes these two so special though, is that both of them possess all of these traits.
Fresh out of the University of Michigan, the 6-foot-2, 215 pounds Zach Werenski took the league by storm in his rookie season in 2016-17, as he showed tremendous confidence and poise while notching 11 goals and 36 helpers to total 47 points, along with registering 90 blocked shots and an average of 20:55 TOI in 78 games played as a 19-year old.
Along with his uprising came Seth Jones’s emergence to fame, as the 6-foot-4, 210 pounds defenseman finished a career year with 12 goals and 30 assists for 42 points in 75 games played. As time has progressed, Jones and Werenski have been building stronger chemistry while demanding more from one another, which has led to more success for the dominant pairing. On a team that lacks dynamic playmakers on offense, it’s been up to the American-born skaters to step up to the plate, as both of them have proven to be capable of not only joining the rush, but leading it too.
A vital feature of a franchise defenseman is the ability to log big minutes. To show they can do so at ease, Seth Jones and Zach Werenski recorded a modest shift total of 76 and 75 respectively in their 5OT game against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the recent Stanley Cup Playoffs this summer. While the game was lost, Jones became the official record-holder for the most minutes played by a skater in a single game with 65:06, and while Werenski didn’t break the record himself, he still logged a humble 61:11 TOI himself that game. What’s ridiculous about all of this is that in a post-game interview, Seth Jones told the media “I feel fine” as if he didn’t just play the fourth-longest game in NHL history…
These two studs are the true definition of two-way defensemen, as they can score 40+ points each (done in three consecutive seasons respectively), while making plays in the defensive zone by laying their body’s on the line to block shots as Werenski has posted 89 or more in three out of four seasons, while Jones has totaled no fewer than 118 blocked shots since the 2014-15 season. These two are indisputably, undoubtedly the best defensive pairing in the NHL heading into the 2020-21 season.