Philadelphia Flyers trade rumors: could Luke Schenn be on the move?

The Philadelphia Flyers are looking to shake things up for obvious reasons, and one of the players that could be on the trading block is defenseman Luke Schenn. He doesn’t seem to be a Craig Berube kind of player, as the coach has heavily emphasized skating over size and strength since taking over for Peter Laviolette.

Things seemed to come to a head when the Flyers took on the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Schenn was scratched and replaced by Hal Gill in the lineup. Which is odd if Berube was looking for more skating, and should tell you all that you need to know about how sour this relationship between player and team may be turning.

While Schenn was solid during the lockout-shortened 2013 campaign, he’s been abysmal this season. He has one assist on the year and is on pace to finish 2013-14 a minus-47. While Schenn might not remain that ineffective, it certainly indicates how bad he’s been for the Flyers.

NHL rumor guru Eklund claims that the defender might be available, and that the Dallas Stars might be among the teams interested in making a move for him. Eklund quoted his source over at HockeyBuzz.com:

"Nevertheless, I found out today that there are clubs — Dallas is one and another Western Conference club — who have some interest in the big, physical defenseman. The source said that “although the optics of trading Schenn after acquiring him for JVR would look terrible” and the Flyers still have Luke’s brother, Brayden, on the club, “the team is worried first and foremost about improving the team, regardless of the outside optics.”"

A deal sending Schenn to the Stars might make sense for both sides, depending on what the Flyers would ask for in return. The defenseman has two years left on his contract after this season, and his $3.6 million cap hit isn’t bad for the kind of play that he’s capable of.

He just seems to have fallen out of favor in Philadelphia, but could fit in with the Stars. Dallas has been slowly piecing together a towering, big and strong defense that isn’t easy to play against (Sergei Gonchar is not a part of that movement, so quit laughing). Brenden Dillon is the leader in that regard, while Jamie Oleksiak and Patrik Nemeth are working on their games down in the AHL.

Schenn appears to fit in with Dallas, but at what cost?