Columbus Blue Jackets season snapshot awards

With the NHL pausing the 2019-20 regular season on March 12 due to the concerns surrounding the coronavirus, NHL.com is taking stock of each of the League's 31 teams.

Today, the award-worthy candidates for the Columbus Blue Jackets at the pause:

The Columbus Blue Jackets are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The season has produced some strong performances for the Blue Jackets as they try to make it to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in their history.

To showcase the top performances this season, here are the top players in various categories:

MVP

Zach Werenski picked up the offensive and defensive slack on a team riddled with injuries to forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand, the Blue Jackets' top goal-scorer (21), and Cam Atkinson, and defenseman Seth Jones. The defenseman is Columbus' second-leading goal-scorer (20) and is third in points with 41 (21 assists) in 63 games.

Rookie

Goalie Elvis Merzlikins stepped up when Joonas Korpisalo was injured against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 29. The 25-year-old rookie is 13-9-0 in 33 games with a 2.35 goals-against average, seventh in the NHL. His .923 save percentage is fifth. And his five shutouts put him in a three-way tie for second in the NHL with Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights and Tuuka Rask of the Boston Bruins, one behind Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets.

Defenseman

Werenski is plus-9, second at the position behind Jones, and averages 23:59 of ice time per game, also second behind the injured Jones. Werenski leads Columbus in shots with 187, and his 10.7 percent shooting percentage is third among Blue Jackets players.

Defensive forward

Boone Jenner, a physical third-line forward, leads the Blue Jackets in face-off winning percentage (55.1 percent) and is 16th in the NHL among players with at least 500 taken.

Comeback player

Riley Nash has 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 64 games, surpassing last season's 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 78 games. The 30-year-old forward said he's become more comfortable in Columbus in his second season after signing as a free agent from the Boston Bruins, for whom he scored 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 76 games in 2017-18.