Maple Leafs' trade path for Zach Werenski is becoming increasingly difficult

While he was at one point a potential trade option, Zach Werenski's commitment to Columbus makes acquiring him in Toronto is becoming harder by the day.

For a brief period of time this off-season, there was a lot of talk regarding the trade potential of Zach Werenski. First there were rumours that he wanted to get out of Columbus, then there were links to the Maple Leafs thanks to his agent and desire to play with Auston Matthews, then he decided to stay put for the time being.

Now granted, things can change at a moment's notice, and the Blue Jackets need to prove to Werenski they can begin to compete on a regular basis in order to keep him around, and a slow start could be the x-factor in whether he sticks around.

The Zach Werenski trade is dead and he'll be with Columbus come 2026-27

Though you can at least expect to see him with the Blue Jackets and a trade elsewhere is not in the cards.

According to Elliotte Friedman, he believes that Werenski is going to stick with the team to no one's real surprise, and while we may be stating the obvious - this is a surefire death sentence for a potential deal.

I expect that he'll start next year in Columbus.

Werenski is coming off a Norris Trophy-winning season where he had 22 goals and 81 points while adding a plus-7 and 94 blocks. For his career, Werenski has 465 points in 642 games and is coming off back-to-back 20+ goal seasons.

Owed $9.58-million for the next two seasons, he's certainly not the biggest cap hit when it comes to what we've seen nowadays but when that new deal comes around he's certainly gonna get paid, and paid handsomely at that too.

The Blue Jackets can rest easy knowing they have the backbone of their lineup in town, and they should enjoy it while it lasts because it could be gone when they least expect it.

Toronto's chance of Werenski was gone the moment Knies wasn't included

It would have been great to see Werenski in the blue and white but it was certainly more grounded in fantasy than reality.

There's no way the team would have paid the assets necessary to acquire him, and since Matthew Knies was deemed pretty much untouchable - it killed the deal. We heard that Easton Cowan and Ben Danford were dangled, but Columbus said no. It seems Knies was the only one they wanted and it's not hard to see why.

Knies' trade value has skyrocketed since last since especially in the wake of some contract signed this summer and with his value appreciating even more as he enters his prime, teams are going to focus on a guy who can help now but has immense potential to be even better.

He's worth trading for a top defenceman, especially like someone of Werenski's ilk but giving up such a young player with a bright future on a dirt-cheap deal all things considered - the Maple Leafs were more inclined to ride out his potential than risk dealing it away.

So Toronto missed out on Zach Werenski and very well may not have a chance to get him until 2028, but if things go their way then the Maple Leafs could get their premium defender they've wanted for decades.

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