The National Hockey League (NHL), National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and USA Hockey announced today that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski has been selected to the Team USA roster for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament will feature NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and United States with games held at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston from Feb. 12-20, 2025.
“I’m extremely honored to represent USA Hockey and the Blue Jackets at this year’s 4-Nations Face-Off,” said Werenski. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ll have the opportunity to play best-on-best and I can’t wait to take part. I’m very humbled and grateful to be selected and I’m going to do everything I can to help Team USA win the tournament.”
Werenski, 27, is set to make his fifth appearance with Team USA after having represented his country at the 2019 and 2024 IIHF World Championships as well as the 2015 and 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships. He posted 2-4-7 in eight games earlier this year at the 2024 IIHF World Championships and was named one of Team USA’s Top Three Players. The blueliner previously served as captain for the 2016 squad at the IIHF World Junior Championships, where he won a bronze medal and was named the tournament’s Best Defenseman.
The Grosse Pointe, Michigan native leads the NHL in average ice time and is tied for the lead among league defensemen in goals and shots on goal, while ranking third in points and fifth-T in assists with 8-18-26 on 26:06 TOI/GP and 90 shots in 24 games this season. He also leads the Blue Jackets in assists, points, shots on goal and TOI and ranks second-T in goals. He set club records for longest assist and point streaks by a defenseman and tied the franchise mark for all skaters for longest assist streak with 5-11-16 in eight-straight games from Nov. 15-Dec. 1. He also became the 10th player – and fourth defenseman – to play in 500 career games with the Blue Jackets on Nov. 10 at Anaheim.
The 6-2, 211-pound defenseman is the Blue Jackets’ all-time leader among blueliners in goals, assists and points with 98-230-328 with 1,378 shots on goal in 510 career outings since making his NHL debut in 2016-17. He also ranks sixth among league blueliners in goals since 2016-17. He was selected by Columbus in the first round, eighth overall, at the 2015 NHL Draft.
Columbus returns to action on Thursday when it visits the Edmonton Oilers. Game time from Rogers Place is 9 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on FanDuel Sports Network and the FanDuel Sports Network app. Coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. with the “Blue Jackets Live” pre-game show. The game will also be heard on the Blue Jackets Radio Network, including Sports Radio 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, and online at BlueJackets.com.
