Luke Schenn will not be in the lineup for the Vancouver Canucks game against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. In fact, he won't even be in Nashville.
With the trade deadline just ten days away, the Canucks have reportedly scratched the veteran defenceman and sent him back to Vancouver from their current road trip. Typically, trade assets are scratched when a trade is imminent to avoid potential injury before a deal can get done.
While there are other reasons Schenn might fly home at a moment's notice — his wife is due to give birth soon — ChekTV's Rick Dhaliwal confirmed that his absence is trade-related and not for family reasons.
UPDATE: The Canucks have confirmed that Schenn is being sat out for "trade protection." It is expected that he will sit out until a trade is completed.
Schenn is on an expiring contract, so there’s a chance, even though he’s expressed a desire to re-sign in Vancouver, that the Canucks could lose him to free agency for nothing if they don't trade him. That contract is also at an exceedingly-reasonable cap hit of just $850,000 — easy for any Cup-contending team to fit under the salary cap.
It’s also plainly obvious what he would bring to those Cup-contending teams. He’s already played a role on two Cup-winning teams, winning two Stanley Cups in a depth role with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s a physical, right-shot defenceman who leads the NHL in hits this season but has also shown that he can still handle and shoot the puck, coming one point away from his career high with 21 points in 55 games for the Canucks.
He’s a plug-and-play defenceman for a team’s third pairing at a plug-and-play price, so it’s easy to understand why teams are interested. Rumours have connected Schenn with multiple teams, such as the Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Boston Bruins.
The Flames just placed their own big, physical, stay-at-home, right-shot defenceman in Michael Stone on Injured Reserve, which might have upped the pressure to pull the trigger on a deal for Schenn to replace him in the lineup, especially with the Flames flirting with disaster at the edge of the playoff bubble.
Assuming the Canucks do trade Schenn, that doesn't mean he couldn't return. After all, he returned to the Canucks after signing with the Lightning. Schenn played his junior hockey with the Kelowna Rockets and still lives in Kelowna during the summers. He likes B.C. and has an appreciation for the organization, who gave him a second shot in the 2018-19 season after the Anaheim Ducks had sent him down to the AHL.
