Zach Werenski is known for his even-keel demeanor, but a conversation with John Tortorella a few weeks ago in Minnesota got the defenseman a bit excited.



“He said he doesn’t consider me a defenseman anymore,” Werenski said with a bit of a smile. “He considers me a ‘rover.’ I have to take it with a grain of salt because … first and foremost, my job is to keep the puck out of the net, but I think it gives me the full green light to play offensively and go take chances, to be aggressive and stay up in the play.”



“Rover.” It’s a term Tortorella has come up with to describe the kind of play that comes innately from 20-year-old Werenski and also 23-year-old Seth Jones. It’s not just playing as an “offensive defenseman” and it’s not transitioning to forward.



“It’s staying involved even more on the offense,” Tortorella said. “It’s having enough guts when we’re rotating a puck offensively in the corner to go sneak down to the other corner so we can make an east-west play and spread the offensive zone.



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