Blue Jackets star meets fans at central Ohio Jet's Pizza location

LEWIS CENTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus Blue Jackets Star Zach Werenski made an appearance Monday afternoon at Jet's Pizza in Lewis Center.

Fans had plenty to talk about with Werenski, who has had quite the year. He helped the United States win its first gold medal at the World Championships in 92 years.

The defenseman also played a key role for Team USA at the Four Nations tournament.

Now, with some big names coming back to help him in Columbus, he's excited for the future.

"I think health is a big part of it," he said. "We lost Boone [Jenner] pretty early, we lost [Sean] Monahan for a bit and we're still only one or two points short. Yea, we have [Dante Fabbro] and [Ivan Provorov] for a long time, bring [Charlie] Coyle and [Miles] Wood in, we're right there. It should be an exciting year for us. I definitely think we have a team that's a playoff team. We're excited to get back there and hopefully make the playoffs for our fans and for our organization."

Werenski broke the record for most points by a Blue Jackets defenseman last season, and was the runner up for the Norris Trophy, which is awarded to the NHL's best defenseman.