Maple Leafs target former player in potential trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs have put somewhat of a bandaid on their defensive issues earlier this week when they acquired Conor Timmins in a transaction. However, hours after the trade, they lost defenseman Jordie Been for several weeks, a loss that comes on top of the ones already very costly on the blue line in Morgan Reilly, Jake Muzzin and TJ Brodie, who is expected to miss at least another week with an oblique injury.

Many insiders and pundits have suggested different trade targets GM Kyle Dubas should focus on to bolster the back end and get some depth for moments like this.

Sean O’Leary of TheScore stood out when he proposed that the Maple Leafs go after one of their former players in Vancouver Canucks’ Luke Schenn.

The 33-year-old defenseman was the Maple Leafs’ first round, fifth overall pick in the 2008 Draft. He played four seasons in Toronto before he was traded in the summer of 2012 to the Philadelphia Flyers. This is how O’Leary attempts to sell you on why the Maple Leafs could target Schenn:

“Schenn isn’t a 20-minutes-per-night kind of player, but he’d be relatively cheap to acquire and could ease the load of those ahead of him on the depth chart in Toronto, where he started his career in 2008. The Canucks are bound to be sellers after a disastrous start to the season, and Schenn is one of their most flippable assets. He won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning and has more experience than the majority of the Leafs’ current crop of defensemen.”

It is true that if this doesn’t work for the Maple Leafs, they can just let the pending unrestricted free agent go in the summer. On top of that Schenn is very affordable at $850,000 and could bring the depth Toronto desperately needs. And let’s not forget, he is a double Stanley Cup champion. Schenn will likely become available if Vancouver fails to gain ground in the standings and then, Dubas could pull the trigger.

Would you like a reunion between the Leafs and Schenn?