SCOUT ANALYST JOHN BOLLMAN'S TAKE

Zach Werenski signed a 3-year, $15 million contract yesterday as a restricted free agent. This is a good deal for both sides, as Werenski is now at a $5 million per year cap hit and the Blue Jackets get to keep one of their top defensemen. He will also be a restricted free agent when this three-year deal expires, so the Blue Jackets get to keep his rights.

DRAFT ADVICE AND POSITION RANK

Draft Zach Werenski as a weekly fantasy starter in 2019-2020. His 99 projected fantasy points puts him at #59 behind Will Butcher and ahead of Ryan Murray. He has averaged 1.8 fantasy points in his past 82 games, which is more than our projected per game average. He is projected to average 1.25 fantasy points. He is overrated if you compare his ownership based rank with his projection rank. At 91%, he is the #19 most highly owned defenseman. Zach Werenski is expected to come up short of last season's #37 fantasy position rank.

PROJECTING A DOWN WEEK 1 FOR ZACH WERENSKI WITH FEWER FPS THAN BRENDAN SMITH

Zach Werenski is projected for 2.23 fantasy points in 2 games the rest of the week in week 1 which ranks him as the #80 projected center for the week and a starter for most fantasy teams. This is projected to be a better than average week with more fantasy points per game than he is projected to average per game the rest of the season. He is ranked above Ryan Murray but behind Brendan Smith the rest of the week. Week 2 will be better based on projected rank (#37). He is projected for 4.31 fantasy points.

FANTASY PROJECTIONS AND ACTUAL STATS

The tables below show projected stats (totals and averages) for the rest of the season and upcoming weeks. Below the projection are actual stats from last season.