The Vancouver Canucks haven’t yet engaged defenceman Luke Schenn on contract extension talks, according to Rick Dhaliwal of Donnie and Dhali — The Team.
Schenn has found his name in plenty of trade rumours as of late, with the Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Boston Bruins, and Calgary Flames believed to be the teams most interested in landing the veteran blue liner.
Here’s what Dhaliwal had to say:
“It was quiet for a while on Luke Schenn everybody, but being told it’s starting to heat up again,” said Dhaliwal. “The goal for the Canucks obviously folks is to get a second or third rounder for Luke. If you’re getting a fourth or fifth rounder you might as well just resign the guy.
“I can say to you this morning there’s been no contract extension talks between the Canucks and Luke Schenn. This is gearing towards a trade with 10 days to go [to the Trade Deadline]. If the Canucks get a decent pick. I think you’ll see them make that move.”
Schenn’s agent Ben Hankinson — who also represents Canucks forward Brock Boeser — joined Donnie and Dhali a couple of weeks ago to talk about the decision the Canucks’ management group has ahead of them, and even brought up the idea of Schenn re-signing in the offseason after a trade this season.
“He’s a hard-hitting right shot, physical shutdown defenceman,” said Hankinson. “It’s kind of crazy talking about a trade because he’s the perfect fit with the Canucks. Everything he’s done and going forward with the stage they are in, kind of figuring out what’s next, like, he’s a guy you want to keep around. So that’s kind of what Patrik and Jim are figuring out. Exactly the reason they want him is why every other team wants him — whether it’s as a rental to make a run, he’s done that before, he’s won a couple of cups with Tampa and he’s a veteran leader — that’s what’s really attractive to other teams. But does he re-sign in Vancouver? Does he get traded and sign somewhere else?
“There’s a lot of factors in play but it’s ultimately a situation where I think the Canucks management has to figure out, ‘this is a good return we could get’ and they’re almost crazy not to take it because, you know, the Canucks aren’t in the playoffs. They can trade him and get some value to help build and move in the direction they want to go. The ultimate possibility is he could re-sign with the Canucks next summer. He’s from Kelowna, he’s got a family out there, he loves it out there, and I think if you ask the players in the room, they don’t want to trade Luke Schenn.”
That quote is from an interview on February 8th (which you can watch by clicking here) and Dhaliwal’s report is from today, February 21st. Obviously, things can change, but it certainly seems as though the Canucks are keeping their focus on moving Schenn ahead of the March 3rd Trade Deadline.
For now.
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