The Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames are emerging as the “leading contenders” to make a trade for Vancouver Canucks defenceman Luke Schenn, according to The Nation Network’s Nick Alberga.
In addition to Alberga, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned both the Flames and Bruins when talking about Schenn in his latest 32 Thoughts column.
Here’s what Friedman had to say:
“I mentioned before that Boston has looked at left-shot options such as Jakob Chychrun and Vladislav Gavrikov. The Bruins also appear to be considering Luke Schenn on the right. The Flames are believed to be in on Schenn too, although they might wait to see if it makes sense for them based on the standings. You can see the possibility because of Chris Tanev’s injuries. Tanev is as big a gamer as they come, but even he can’t overcome everything. There’s been a push from some in the Canucks organization to keep Schenn. I think it depends on what’s offered. If Vancouver deems it too low, they won’t move. But there’s plenty of interest, which generally pushes up the price.”
Flames head coach Darryl Sutter has been very open with his admiration of Schenn in the past. Earlier this season he told media he felt Schenn is someone who could be a captain on most teams. Sutter briefly coached Schenn in Los Angeles, but clearly, the veteran blue liner made a lasting impression on the veteran NHL bench boss.
The Bruins are going to be doing everything they can to gear up for a deep playoff run, and adding depth to their blueline is certainly a good way to do that. Schenn has proved over the past two seasons that he’s more than capable of holding his own at the NHL level and is capable of playing with elite defencemen. It’s no wonder that teams would be interested, but there’s no guarantee the Canucks will be trading him ahead of the deadline.
Earlier today, Schenn’s agent Ben Hankinson, who also represents Brock Boeser, was on Donnie and Dhali — The Team to talk about his two Canucks clients. With regards to Schenn, Hankinson said that he’s not sure if an extension would be signed or if a trade would take place, but that they’d have a better idea over the three weeks leading up to the March 3rd Trade Deadline.
“There’s a lot of factors in play,” said Hankinson. “It’s ultimately a situation where I think Canucks management has to figure out, ‘this is a good return we could get’ and they’re almost crazy not to take it because the Canucks aren’t in the playoffs. They can trade him and get some value to help build and move in the direction they want to go.
“The ultimate possibility is he could re-sign with the Canucks next summer. He’s from Kelowna, he’s got a family out there, he loves it out there, and I think if you ask the players in the room, they don’t want to trade Luke Schenn. He’s obviously focused on getting the job done with the Canucks and trying to get out of this and find a way to finish strong here, so who knows where that’ll be, but he’s a warrior and a guy definitely you want on your team.”
If the Canucks were to move Schenn at the deadline for an asset in return, Hankinson’s comments certainly indicate that a reunion in the summer could very much so still be in the cards. And to be honest, things playing out that way is probably the best possible outcome for the Canucks, who would certainly love to keep Schenn’s veteran leadership around their locker room for years to come.