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‘I truly care about what’s taking place here’: Luke Schenn details why he signed with Canucks
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
Jeff Paterson
Jul 1, 2026, 21:32 EDTUpdated: Jul 1, 2026, 21:36 EDT
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For Luke Schenn, this is personal. The rugged blueliner is returning for an unprecedented third tour of duty with the Vancouver Canucks after signing a one-year, $2.25M contract early in free agency Wednesday. Schenn made it clear he is fully on board with the organization’s rebuild and wants to do everything in his power to help the hockey club return to prominence. 
A two-time Stanley Cup winner, the 36-year-old with 1,122 regular season NHL games under his belt says he wouldn’t have signed on for just any rebuild around the National Hockey League. He’s coming here to see a team he feels deeply connected to leave the dark days behind. 
“I truly care about what’s taking place here and obviously who is running the ship in terms of coaches and management and everything, I really care about the Canucks and the direction they’re going in,” Schenn explained on a Zoom call with the media Wednesday morning. “When this opportunity came up and I was able to help be a part of it and they saw me as a guy that can help do that, I was pumped to take a strong look at this offer and make it work.”
At this stage of his career, Schenn, who first played for the Canucks under Travis Green in the 2018-19 season and returned to play for Bruce Boudreau and Rick Tocchet a few years later, isn’t worried about his role or his ice time. He understands the assignment. Much like Brendan Gallagher, who was acquired earlier in the week, Schenn is embracing the opportunity to be a leader and a strong presence in the locker room.
Preparing to enter his 19th NHL season after being the 5th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft (for context, that’s the same month recent first-rounder Caleb Malhotra was born), Schenn is excited to reconnect with new general manager Ryan Johnson and head coach Manny Malhotra. He had Malhotra as an assistant coach in both Vancouver and Toronto.
“I’m looking forward to coming to camp and having a good attitude, good work ethic and showing what compete and everything will take care of itself,” he said. “There’s some younger players on the D. There’s some experienced guys. Everything will sort itself out. I’m looking forward to helping out and seeing where everyone fits in.”
Life moves quickly in the NHL, and since Schenn left the Canucks at the 2023 trade deadline, there aren’t many familiar faces remaining on the roster. Thatcher Demko, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek and Aatu Räty are the only ones still on the roster that were here during his second stint with the hockey club. Hronek played just four games for the Canucks that season, and Räty appeared in only three. 
So Schenn will have to establish connections with many of his new teammates. But he already knows Brendan Gallagher from summer skates in Kelowna through the years and the newly acquired winger reached out to the defenceman immediately after the news broke that they’d be teammates in Vancouver.
“He’s already been texting me here since the news came out,” Schenn said. “We’re both really excited to come join the Canucks and obviously we’re experienced guys and feel like we can definitely help out in different areas. The big word is culture and we’d like really, really like to help out any way we can with that.”
As for how Schenn thinks he can help some of the younger Canucks learn the ropes of the professional game, he wants to set an example in all facets of the game. 
“It starts with the little habits which are big habits at the end of the day,” he explained. “Practice habits every day, simple things, doing it correctly putting the pass on the tape, battling in practice, not taking short cuts in the gym. In the game, doing the correct thing no matter what the circumstance is and continuing to work toward whatever you’re trying to achieve. It’s not being negative when things are going wrong. It’s continuing to be positive and having fun. I think the biggest thing is the want to compete and the hate to lose. It’s work at the end of the day, that’s what it is. You can’t be taking shortcuts when you’re trying to build something.”
Luke Schenn has seen just about everything in his nearly two decades in the NHL. With two stops in Vancouver and Toronto and single stays in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Arizona, Anaheim, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Winnipeg and Buffalo, he has experienced more than his share of both highs and lows. And through it all, he still has a genuine love for the game, and he wants to share that with his new Canucks teammates. Considered one of the true good guys in the sport, Luke Schenn is coming back to a familiar spot. This is where he wants to be. And the Canucks are hoping he’ll leave an impact that will be felt for years to come.
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