Bolts by the Bay
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2023 Trade Deadline Primer: Five Players the Lightning Should Pursue

By Stephen Parrino

VANCOUVER, CANADA - JANUARY 18: Luke Schenn #2 of the Vancouver Canucks waits for a face-off during the third period of their NHL game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Rogers Arena on January 18, 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Tampa won 5-2. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, CANADA - JANUARY 18: Luke Schenn #2 of the Vancouver Canucks waits for a face-off during the third period of their NHL game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Rogers Arena on January 18, 2023 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Tampa won 5-2. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

Potential Trade Targets

Luke Schenn — RD, Vancouver Canucks

Age: 33
Stats: 54 GP | 3 Goals | 18 Assists | +9 | 17:09 TOI/G
Contract: 2023 UFA, $850,000
Misc. Stats: 81 Blocked Shots | 258 Hits (league leader) |1:48 PK TOI/G

Trade board rankings:

  • Daily Faceoff: 15
  • The Athletic: 10
  • TSN: 18

Back on the list again this year is Luke Schenn. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has mentioned multiple times that Tampa has been one of the teams calling Vancouver about the possibility of making a deal for our former RD that played 19 games combined in the 2020 and 2021 playoffs.

The nice thing about reacquiring Schenn is that we know what we will get with him. We can plug him in on the third-pairing, with Hedman, or as the seventh defenseman and get 10-12 minutes of solid physically defensive play from him. But what is that worth?

Vancouver probably believes that Schenn, now the pairing partner to Quinn Hughes, and playing over 17 minutes a game, has considerable value. And as the only notable physical right-shot defenseman being advertised as available for trade by selling teams this year, they could be right.

We have seen in past seasons that the top player in this role can, and will, fetch a premium. Look back to 2021 when we acquired David Savard from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a first and third-round draft pick when he was having the worst season of his career, at that point. He then turned around and became a reliable third-pairing defender that we never had to sweat over in the playoffs.

However, with our current trade asset situation, I doubt we will go that high to get Schenn as Bogosian, Cernak, and Perbix already hold down our right side without much worry.

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