Free agent defenceman Luke Schenn talks playoffs, potential Canucks reunion, and more

Luke Schenn is basically the definition of a fan favourite in Vancouver.

On Wednesday, the former Canucks defenceman, slated to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, joined Don Taylor and Rick Dhaliwal for an interview on Donnie and Dhali — The Team.

Schenn was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the March 3rd Trade Deadline, and appeared in every one of the Leafs’ 11 playoff games. Schenn spoke about the Florida Panthers squad that knocked the Leafs out of the playoffs. The Panthers are now one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup final and have been quite the story this postseason.

“I don’t think they get enough credit,” Schenn said. “Everyone thinks they squeaked into the playoffs — they did sneak into the playoffs — but people forget they won the President’s Trophy last year and they made a trade that made them better, right? So obviously they had their ups and downs this season, had some injuries, but they got a lot of players that you don’t hear a lot of in Canada or out West in particular.

“They’re getting goaltending right now that I don’t think we’ve seen in a long time,” Schenn added. “I was talking with a teammate the other day, you know, in hindsight, you’re looking back and you’re getting goaltending that you haven’t seen since like, I grew up watching him, I remember Giguere, I think it was in 2003 when he was with Anaheim, like that’s probably the last guy to roll through the playoffs like this. They’re obviously playing a great team game and they’re a hard team to play. They play the right way. They’re really hard on the forecheck and good beneath the goal line and behind the net, they make a lot of plays. They’re a strong team give them credit and you know, obviously goaltending is a huge factor.”

The question on everyone’s mind is if Schenn will become a Vancouver Canuck for a third time this offseason.

“I knew that question was coming,” said Schenn with a laugh. “I’ve always enjoyed my time in Vancouver, obviously that’s why I signed there a second time — I enjoyed it that much the first time. Obviously a passionate fanbase, I’ve always been treated really fairly by the fanbase, by the media and the organization’s great. But in saying that, I’ve no idea. I mean, first of all, they’ve got their own plans of what they need to accomplish. And you know, I think they’ve always talked about getting cap space and getting younger, and you know, on the right side, they’ve got Bear and they traded for Hronek and everything.

“I loved my time in Toronto as well too, and that’s who I’m under contract with for the next little bit. But looking back on my career, I definitely had some great memories in Vancouver and it’s always been a special place to me, being a Kelowna guy in the summertime and following the Canucks and being the team in BC where everyone follows, it’s been a special place, but who the heck knows what their plans are and obviously like I said, I really enjoyed things in Toronto and we’ll see where that shakes itself out first.”

Schenn isn’t wrong, either. Unless the Canucks are able to move on from Tyler Myers this offseason, they appear to have the right side of their defence set, for the most part. It will also be interesting to see what Schenn would be able to get on the open market given the fact he proved in both the regular season and playoffs that he’s more than capable of playing top four minutes. Schenn spent most of the year with Quinn Hughes, and performed admirably alongside Morgan Reilly in Toronto.

NHL free agency is slated for July 1st.