Hard-hitting Luke Schenn playing best hockey of his career with Canucks

There are many unkind words you could use to sum up the Vancouver Canucks season to date.

Disappointing, frustrating, pathetic…

You wouldn’t use any of those words to describe the play of veteran defenceman Luke Schenn.

The 33-year-old might be the oldest Canucks player on the roster, but that hasn’t prevented him from playing the best hockey of his career.

Schenn might be the most complete defenceman on the Canucks right now, which is saying something considering that this team has one of the highest payrolls allocated to defencemen in the NHL.

According to CapFriendly, the Canucks currently have the sixth-highest payroll on defence, behind the Vegas Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets.

However, that doesn’t include Tucker Poolman or Travis Dermott, who are both still on long-term injured reserve.

The point is, the Canucks are paying a ton to defencemen this season despite having one of the worst collection of blueliners in hockey.

Thankfully, they have someone like Schenn, a rare bargain player on this team who’s providing extreme value based on his $850,000 cap hit.

Defence, hits, scoring: Schenn is doing it all

So far this season, Schenn has averaged 17:34 of ice time per game.

He’s only topped that total twice in the past decade, and he hasn’t averaged that much ice time on a nightly basis since playing for Arizona Coyotes back in 2016-17 when he played 18:04 per game.

On a team that’s surrendering the third most goals in hockey, Schenn’s on-ice presence has been a much-needed breath of fresh air.

Unless you’re the opposition, that is.

Despite being one of the older players in the league, Schenn hasn’t slowed in terms of throwing his weight around. The veteran is throwing 15.3 hits per 60 minutes this season. That’s the third-highest total of his 15-year NHL career.

Oh, and he currently leads the NHL in hits with 76.

The next closest player with 68 hits, Washington Capitals defenceman Mertin Fehevary, is a full decade younger than Schenn.

The league-leader in hits gets the belt tonight. pic.twitter.com/jSReuQlHuf

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) November 16, 2022

Defensively, Schenn hasn’t been an elite shutdown defender, but he’s been better than anyone else on the Canucks.

According to Hockey Reference, Schenn leads the Canucks 0.8 defensive point shares. That’s a fancy way of saying that when the Canucks win, Schenn has been the most impactful player defensively.

One of the biggest flaws with that statistic is that it’s tied too closely to ice time. In Schenn’s case, that makes his performance even more impressive, considering that he currently ranks sixth among Canucks blueliners in ice time.

Did we mention he’s scoring too?

Schenn is currently tied for 11th among all NHL blueliners with seven even-strength points. One of the players he’s tied with is his defence partner Quinn Hughes, although he’s ranked ahead of him in a tiebreaker because he has five primary points (one goal, four first assists). Hughes has three primary points (all first assists) at even strength.

Is Schenn propping up Hughes?

It’s no secret that despite registering 14 assists in 13 games this season, Hughes has struggled defensively – despite spending the majority of his even-strength minutes playing with Schenn.

They both have a positive goal differential, but that’s largely due to unsustainable shooting luck. The underlying numbers for both players haven’t been great, but they’re a little more ghastly for Hughes.

Hughes has an expected goals-for percentage of 41.2%, which is worst among Canucks aside from Jack Rathbone, who has appeared in just six games. Schenn’s isn’t positive but it is third-best among Canucks defenders at 48.5%.

In terms of actual goals, Hughes has been on the ice for 3.3 even-strength goals against per-60. Schenn has been on the ice for 2.6.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be shocking that Hughes’s numbers dip further without Schenn. However, it’s surprising to see a number of Schenn’s metrics improve in his minutes away from Hughes.

Here’s how they’ve fared together and apart based on expected goals at even strength:

• Together (145 minutes): 45.3%
• Schenn without Hughes (47 minutes): 50.4%
• Hughes without Schenn (107 minutes): 34.1%

Schenn is an attractive trade chip for Canucks

Here’s the catch-22 about being a player providing excess value while on an expiring contract.

If you don’t play for a contender, that means you’re probably a good trade chip.

That’s where the Canucks likely find themselves right now with Schenn. If they remain miles away from the playoff race, then there’s not much sense in keeping Schenn around past the deadline.

Schenn might be older, but he’s playing extremely well based on his contract. He also plays a premium position as a right-shot defenceman.

At this point in time, the Canucks would be wise to start blowing their roster up, and Schenn is one of a few guys who could fetch a nice return.

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