Philadelphia Flyers: B. Schenn to Blues Rumor Re-Surfaces
By Marc Naples
Today, I was planning on sitting down and figuring out possible destinations for Luke Schenn in a trade. I thought trading Luke seemed like the most likely move the Philadelphia Flyers had up their sleeve. Instead, I was distracted by Brayden Schenn rumors popping up again.
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If you recall when training camp began, reporters questioned Hextall about a trade rumor involving David Backes in St. Louis. The rumor was something along the lines of Brayden Schenn and Radko Gudas for David Backes. Hextall shot that down, framing it in terms of not trading young players for veterans. That made sense to me.
Now, Darren Dreger revived Brayden Schenn to the Blues. In regards to seeing Brayden Schenn being traded sometime this season, Dreger said:
"Yeah, I could. His name has been kind of on and off the trade list over the past season, maybe two seasons. I would think that Hakstol would want to get a real good look at him, and see what he has. I mean, that’s the arrogance of coaching, isn’t it, regardless if you have NHL experience. You come in and think that you’re the guy to come in and push the right buttons to make every player go. But, having said that, Schenn’s name is out there. There’s no doubt about that. I know the St. Louis Blues, as example – we’re going to talk about this a bit on in Insider Trading tonight – there’s a team that’s looking for a top 9 forward. Schenn makes some sense, but he makes a lot of money and he might be too expensive for the St. Louis Blues and a lot of other teams.But at least as far as media circles go, Brayden Schenn – his name is out there. But again, it’s so early, it’s really tough to find any traction with one specific team."
This was fairly surprising to me, but not shocking. Brayden Schenn has playing motivated hockey this preseason, scoring three goals. Hakstol, however, tempered expectations there, stating; “He’s scored each night, but that’s probably not the best way to evaluate the total performance,” Hakstol said. “There’s some areas that he can become more complete in.”
Darren Dreger is not one to throw out speculative rumors. He is very well-informed, and usually only reports on rumors when there is real substance there. Perhaps Hextall is considering Brayden Schenn to St. Louis, but not for Backes? Backes struck me as a strange piece for the Blues to move at this time.
David Backes to the Flyers? Maybe not, but what else can the Blues offer Philadelphia? Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
If you exclude Backes, I’m not sure what the Philadelphia Flyers are looking for from St. Louis. The Flyers certainly don’t want defensemen with all their young defensive prospects, plus 8 NHL’ers under contract this season. Furthermore, if the Blues are looking to add a top-9 forward, they probably won’t send one back the other way. That leaves draft picks and out-of-NHL forward prospects as the only remaining trade fodder.
This trade doesn’t have to happen tomorrow. Personally, I would like to see Brayden Schenn get a bit more time this season and see what steps he can take forward in his game. His potential to this team is still there.
He played on the top line last night due to Michael Raffl’s injury. He did okay, drawing a few penalties but didn’t extend his goal scoring streak. I’ll be pulling for him, although trade winds are picking up around both his and brother Luke’s head in Philadelphia.
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