Schenn Trade Talks Make Ton Of Sense For Boston Bruins

While there are rumblings to Boston Hockey Now that the Boston Bruins are in the market for a bigger name like Bo Horvat at the NHL trade deadline, the more likely scenario has the B’s adding finishing touches to a roster that’s steamrolled the rest of the NHL this season. That makes the reports out there that the Bruins are talking to the Vancouver Canucks about veteran defenseman Luke Schenn both extremely plausible and good news to Boston Bruins fans.

The 6-foot-2, 226-pound defenseman actually leads the entire NHL with 203 hits this season and has blocked 70 shots, while dropping the gloves four teams already halfway through the year.

Clearly a guy that has favorite fight stories is something that Boston Bruins fans could warm to very quickly.

.@ArizonaCoyotes' Luke Schenn shares his best hockey fight stories with @TysonNash on this episode of 5 Minutes in the Box. 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/TsJ87QMed3

— Bally Sports Arizona (@BALLYSPORTSAZ) February 28, 2017

Pierre Lebrun from the Athletic floated Luke Schenn’s name out there as a trade possibility for the Black and Gold, and hockey sources have confirmed to Boston Hockey Now that there have been exploratory talks between the two sides.

The bad news is that the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be in the market for that exact kind of player as well, so there will be competition for a depth defenseman that’s got two goals and 12 points in 43 games while logging a solid 17:15 of ice time.

Truth be told, a physical, intimidating D-man that can kill penalties, stand up for his teammates and be the right-handed version of Derek Forbort is the only glaring need on a Boston Bruins roster that’s deep, talented and dangerous offensively, defensively, on special teams and in the goaltending department.

It makes very little sense to subtract from the current NHL roster that’s gelled so indelibly, and part of the appeal of a player like Schenn is that it’s going to be draft pick or prospect costs rather than NHL talent. Further, Schenn has an $850,000 cap hit, which would make him affordable to a team like the Boston Bruins from a salary cap perspective, and that is no small detail for the cap-strapped Black and Gold this season. Another important detail is the two Stanley Cups that Schenn won while a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who will also likely be in the market for his services once he’s made available by a Canucks team that is most certainly going to be a seller at the deadline.

The 33-year-old Schenn is a tough, physical defenseman that’s well-traveled at this point in his career but can still pack a punch and throw a hit as a right-shot defenseman that could be valuable insurance depth in case of injury to either Brandon Carlo or Charlie McAvoy.