Regardless of his return, the wait will be worth it to get Werenski back to full strength.
The injury occurred Oct. 30 at Nationwide Arena, in the Jackets' 4-3 shootout win against the Boston Bruins, and Werenski played the next 21 games before missing four straight in the middle of December. Upon returning Dec. 29 in Ottawa, he played another 43 straight games before getting a breather in the season-finale April 7 in Nashville.
Shying away from slap shots and one-timers because of the injury, Werenski still finished the season with 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists) in 77 games. He also played all six games in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Washington Capitals, finishing with three points (one goal, two assists).
Werenski said he never contemplated fixing the injury sooner.
"Obviously, I want to play," he said. "I missed a little time at Christmas there. That's all I needed to feel good enough to play, but it definitely [was tough] for sure."
Playing with pain, plus a shoulder harness, Werenski posted 10 less points than his rookie season. There was also a 25-game goal drought from Dec. 31 to Mar. 1, which was a growing pain that accompanied his physical pain.
He played nearly two minutes more per game, though, and faced more top-line matchups, along with defense partner Seth Jones.
The upside was that Werenski and Jones each scored 16 goals to share the franchise record for goals by a defenseman in a single season, set in 2006 by Bryan Berard (12) and matched last season by Jones.
"It's always nice when you can score goals and get on the scoresheet, but this year I was put into situations to play against a top line a little bit more," Werenski said April 24, during his exit-day interview. "I talked to [assistant coach Brad Shaw] a lot this year about playing through an injury and playing against the other team's top lines, and I think it will make me a better hockey player than last year, because I went through ups and downs and struggled at times. I didn't play great and I battled through an injury. I think this year will be a huge impact on me."
Werenski didn't assign a percentage to his health status for most of the season, but said the injury was a big challenge to overcome.
"I'd like to think every night I go out there I'm 100 percent," he said. "The truth is I wasn't. I had to accept that as a hockey player and a competitor. We're going to work to fix it and figure it out with management and the training staff, what to do to be 100 percent next year."
That turned out to be the surgery Thursday, which capped a turbulent second season for one of the NHL's top younger defensemen. It wasn't the kind of season he'd envisioned having, but it wasn't all bad either.
There were lessons learned, on and off the ice. There was more experience gained, in the regular season and playoffs. Werenski even made his all-star debut by filling in for Jones during the 2018 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend in Tampa Bay, after Jones got sick and couldn't attend.
There were plenty of takeaways for Werenski this season, good and bad, and he plans to use them all to make his third NHL season his best yet.
"I went through a scoring slump, I played through an injury, I played against the other teams' top lines," he said. "I played 15 minutes some games and 30 minutes others. I can't really pinpoint one thing [to take away]. The year, in general, was a learning experience for me. I'll be a better player because of it."
