Whoever makes it out of the Atlantic division among the top teams is going to be Stanley Cup favourites. The Boston Bruins seem to win nearly every night and don’t look like they’re going to give up first place in the division. That means the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning are going to be battling it out for home ice advantage. The Bruins and Maple Leafs have the most cap space at the deadline, but the Lightning have done well at the deadline the past three seasons seeing as they made the Cup Final in all of them.
A player that each team has their eye on is Luke Schenn of the Vancouver Canucks. He has played key minutes over the past few seasons and is a very solid and physical defenceman that is going to be available at the trade deadline. Unless the Canucks can re-sign him, they would miss out on a great opportunity to take advantage of the interest in their defenceman and move him for assets.
Related: Canucks Interested in 2 Available Defencemen at Trade Deadline
Schenn is a UFA at the end of the season with a cap hit of just $850,000. This would fit in on any team and he can bring a lot of useful elements in a playoff series. Schenn has over 3000 hits, 1400 blocked shots, and 750 penalty minutes in his 15 year career. The 33-year-old could fetch something close to a first round pick this season.
Each Team’s Pitch for Schenn
Bruins
The Bruins are very good this season, but still feel like they can get better. This will be one of their last chances to make a Cup run with this group and they are going to go all-in. Not only are they looking at a high-end forward, they want to shore up their defence. Schenn is a cheap option that can seamlessly fit in on their third pair. Pierre LeBrun said the Bruins have talked to the Canucks about Schenn.
Right now the team has Jakub Zboril as their seventh defenceman and he’s only suited up for 14 games this season. Connor Clifton has managed to play every game on the third pair, so Schenn could be used in the same way he was utilized in Tampa Bay for their Cup runs. He would get in some games and serve as the sixth-seventh defenceman. He would be a strong safety net as well if anyone were to be banged up. Schenn has proven he can slot in on any pairing and have success.
Maple Leafs
There are rumours that the Maple Leafs are going to be moving someone like Rasmus Sandin to acquire a forward at the deadline. This opens up a spot on the defence for someone more capable of defending hard, something the Maple Leafs need if they want to make it out of the first round and deep into the playoffs.
With Jake Muzzin’s injury, many think that the Maple Leafs should be acquiring a defenceman at the deadline to pick up some of the slack physically. It would be Schenn’s second time in the organization that drafted him fifth overall before he was traded at 22 years old. The Maple Leafs have had more injury trouble throughout the season than the other two top Atlantic division teams. One injury could really hurt their chances of winning a series, but Schenn would be able to step in if he was on the roster.
Lightning
The Lightning had Schenn on their roster for both of their recent Stanley Cups. He didn’t have a huge role or even a role that he has with the Canucks, but he contributed. He only spent two seasons in the Lightning organization as well before moving on back to Vancouver.
The Lightning have since moved on from Ryan McDonagh, David Savard, and Jan Rutta since the last time Schenn was on the team. With a much younger and more inexperienced group, they need Schenn more than the Bruins or Maple Leafs. The Canucks defenceman has been shown interest by the Lightning, per Elliotte Friedman. More than just these three teams have interest in Schenn, so it will be interesting to see who he is playing for after the deadline.
