Blue Jackets head coach says he's as shocked as anyone about Zach Werenski wanting out of Columbus

Dan Dakich explains where the WNBA fails at conducting themselves like other professional sports league's when it comes to magnifying the game.

NHL free agency gets underway on Wednesday, but this has been a weird offseason in that there seems to be more talk about players who have asked for trades than we are about players about to hit the open market.

One of the most shocking of these is Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski, who told GM Don Waddell he wants out just weeks after locking up the Norris Trophy as the top blueliner in the NHL.

In fact, it was such a surprise that even his head coach was blindsided by the request.

Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness revealed that he was shocked that star defenseman Zach Werenski had requested a trade. (Katherine Gawlik/Icon Sportswire)

"I’m as shocked as anyone that these came up," Bowness said, per The Athletic. "I mean, at the end of the year meetings, we looked each other in the eye and had great meetings and gave each other a hug leaving, and all that.

"So everything was good. So when all of this broke, I was shocked and caught off-guard like everyone else."

Werenski — whose current deal runs through 2027-28 — wasn't the only player who wanted out. Forward Kirill Marchenko also told the team he wants a change of scenery.

Still, it was a major surprise.

Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski requested a trade just weeks after winning the Norris Trophy has the NHL's top defenseman. (Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images)

Sure, the end of the Blue Jackets' season was an unmitigated disaster, and that final stretch of the season is why they whiffed on the postseason. It happens, and they owned it.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD.