The Toronto Maple Leafs will be acquiring a defenseman before the trade deadline, but hopefully not Luke Scheen.
On Friday, Mark Easson of My NHL Trade Rumors published a blog post on Erik Gudbranson of the Vancouver Canucks possibly being a good fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs (he’s not). Easson continued to mention that the Toronto Maple Leafs could look at Schenn, Mike Green of the Detroit Red Wings, Alex Biega of the Canucks and Chris Wideman of the Ottawa Senators.
In Easson’s list is terrible, with the possibly exception of Mike Green, the Leafs would be better off giving more minutes to Dermott or Carrick rather than acquire any of those duds.
Schenn’s Previous Stint in Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Schenn 5th overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to the 2008 draft, Schenn had a stellar season for the WHL‘s Kelowna Rockets, in which he posted 7 goals and 21 assists in 57 games. He was one of the most sought after two-way defensemen in the draft, which goes to show you what scouts know. Schenn was one of five (FIVE) defenseman selected before Erik Karlsson that year.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ general manager at the time, Cliff Fletcher decided against sending Schenn back to the juniors for the 2008-2009 season. Instead, he preferred that Schenn stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Throughout his stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Schenn was, at best, an adequate defenseman. Unfortunately, for Schenn and the Leafs, the NHL has gone in the direction of speed and skill, and as puck-moving defenseman have come to take the majority of roster spots, players like Schenn – who would have been a star in the 90s – have been going the way of the enforcer.
Schenn was useful for the Toronto Maple Leafs on the penalty kill, but his 5v5 play was dreadful. In Schenn’s tenure in Toronto, he only had one season with a corsi-for percentage higher than 50%.
In June of 2012, Brian Burke, former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs decided to part with Schenn and he dealt him to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for James van Riemsdyk. This has proven to be one of the most favorable trades in Leafs history.
Philly and LA
Schenn joined his younger brother, Brayden in the city of brotherly love, but the change of scenery didn’t help his game. Instead, his two-way skill-set continued to evaporate. In three and a half seasons with the Flyers, he totaled 42 points and had an average corsi-for percentage 48.4%. Additionally, he found himself out of the lineup consistently. He had a few injuries and was a healthy scratch from time-to-time through his stay in Philadelphia.
After 29 games in the 2015-16 season, the Flyers decided to move on from Schenn and dealt him to the Los Angeles Kings for a third round draft pick and Jordan Weal.
Welcome to the Desert
Schenn decided to take his stay-at-home talent 500 miles east to Phoenix, Arizona. On July 23, 2016, he signed a two year deal worth 2.5 million with the Coyotes.
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The presence of cacti and tex-mex cuisine didn’t agree with Schenn as he has continued to play poorly. Last season, Schenn had his worst corsi-for percentage of his career and this season’s isn’t looking much better. As of late, Schenn has put up abysmal stats and was a healthy scratch on Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.
Schenn will be a free agent on July 1st. The Coyotes will likely look to move Schenn at the deadline, but he won’t have much value.
Toronto Maple Leafs Should Avoid Stay-At-Home Defense
Lou Lamoriello should not be looking for another stay-at-home defenseman. In today’s NHL there is no reason to dress a slow player who can’t effectively move the puck. Hitting people and blocking shots doesn’t make up for being constantly trapped in your own zone.
The Leafs need less Roman Polak and do not need to replace him with a substitute. Erik Gudbranson is terrible and Luke Schenn arguably worse.
Next: Bye Week Should be Trade Week
The Toronto Maple Leafs do not need to make their team slower, nor do they need to dress a player who can hit and scare opposing players. If they’re going to add someone to the blueline, they’d be best served to spend what it takes to bring in a quality player who will make an actual difference, someone like Jacob Trouba or Chris Tanev.