Should the Boston Bruins take on Luke Schenn?

As the NHL’s trade deadline approaches by the day, we’ve talked about trade adjustments before here. From Bo Horvat to Noel Acciari, these ideas were spread. A potential trade fit I want to look at today is defenseman Luke Schenn.

Schenn is a right-shot defenseman who has been in the NHL for 15 years and has served with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning and his current roster, the Vancouver Canucks.

He’s 33 and an effective stay-at-home defender, and given the Bruins don’t have much proper shooting depth beyond the top three of Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Connor Clifton, the move would make sense that way especially then , if one of the three suffers an injury. It’s also incredibly cheap, with a cap hit of $850,000 for this season.

So far this season, Schenn has recorded two goals and 14 assists while averaging 17:09 ice time in 49 games for the Canucks. 16 points isn’t a lot, but by his standards, as Schenn is only seven points away from setting a new career high in a single season.

Based on those 16 points, don’t expect Schenn to light up the scorers’ chart, but he doesn’t have to and it’s not his game. He is a physical and powerful defender, with 237 goals in 49 games averaging more than four goals per game. His 75 blocks average a little over one blocked shot per game.

Schenn’s strong defense can also play on penalties, which again would be very important if one of McAvoy, Carlo or Clifton went down injured. His natural right foot shot would also make more sense than sidelining Mike Reilly or Jakub Zboril, and Schenn is simply a better player than Anton Stralman.

In terms of cost, Schenn would likely cost the Bruins a mid-round draft pick or a mid-tier prospect in a trade, which is a trade that’s easy to make since there’s no top prospect or first- round pick, and it makes a league-leading team like the Bruins even better.

So yes, I think Luke Schenn is someone the Bruins should definitely acquire in a trade. He’s a right-footed defender, solidifies depth on this side, is really cheap cap-wise and probably won’t cost much to acquire. It makes all the sense in the world if you ask me.

Source: causewaycrowd.com