LUKE SCHENN PLAYED BETTER THAN CRITICS CLAIMED
The 2014-15 season was a frustrating one for the entire Flyers team but especially to the group of defensemen -- including both
Luke Schenn and
Andrew MacDonald as well as
Michael Del Zotto in the first half of the season -- who spent stretches as healthy scratches under former head coach
Craig Berube.
After a rough start to the season -- which included a minus-five game paired with Del Zotto in the season's second game and a minus-seven mark through his first 10 games -- Schenn actually had a decent individual season when he was in the lineup.
Context is important. It can be tough for a player to find a rhythm when he is constantly looking over his shoulder, knowing that he has a very slim margin of error before getting scratched. Schenn handled that pressure commendably.
Playing an average 18:04 per game including an average 2:18 of penalty killing time and 15:41 at even strength, Schenn dressed in just 58 games in 2014-15. He was credited with 194 hits (tops among Flyers defensemen, second in hits-per-game on the team) and blocked 89 shots.
For those who put great value in looking at even strength shot-attempt differentials with individual players on the ice, what stands out with Schenn was that he finished on the positive side on a team that was not a good puck possession club at even strength. In terms of the more traditional plus-minus statistic that simply tallies goals for/against at even strength, Schenn was a plus-five for the season after October.
It is not known where Schenn ranked among his Flyers blueline peers in areas unrelated to shot attempt tallies per se, but it would stand to reason that these are areas where he did well. Schenn was one of the two physically strongest defensemen on last year's Flyers -- only the since-traded
Nicklas Grossmann could rival Schenn in terms of being to impose physical will in terms of board pins, box outs on rebounds, stick lifts/ tie ups, bumping an attacker off balance or causing hurried shots simply by lurking nearby.
These are the things that big-framed defensemen tend to do well and were some the specific things that Berube always singled out when asked about why Grossmann was a fixture in the lineup. However, these are also game situations that often require a teammate to retrieve the puck or the goaltender to cover up a puck for a stoppage (which keeps play in the defensive zone but does allow for a potential line change).
The fact that Schenn can do the unglamorous and not necessarily Corsi/Fenwick friendly dirty work in the trenches but he also finished on the positive end of the shot differential ledger when on the ice is commendable. It suggests he that he an asset no matter how his role as a defensive defenseman was viewed.
It should be noted here per behindthenet.ca that Schenn's "quality of competition" metric was seventh among the eighth Flyers defensemen who dressed in at least 20 games and Schenn was fourth in offensive zone starting percentage. However, a player can only do the job he is asked to do and Schenn did just that.
Flyers goaltender
Steve Mason has a utilitarian view on players blocking shots in front of him. The netminder is very vocal about telling the defensemen that, if they are going to try to go for a block, the entire shot needs to be blocked. Mason does not want partially blocked shots, which can deflect unpredictably. Like all goaltenders, Mason would also rather see a shot get through cleanly than to be inadvertently screened by a teammate.
Collectively, the Flyers' defensemen last season tried to be a little more positional-play focused. Mason said in March that part of the credit for his very strong save percentage last season at even strength should go to the players in front of him focusing on taking away the prime scoring areas and letting Mason himself handle more of the low-to-moderate danger shots. Improved back pressure from the forwards as the season progressed also played into it.
Players like Grossmann and MacDonald saw their shot block totals dip significantly in 2014-15.
Grossmann averaged 1.30 credited blocks per game in 2014-15 after averaging 2.23 blocks per game the previous year. MacDonald averaged 1.48 per game in 2014-15 compared to averaging 2.31 in the 19 games he played for the Flyers after being acquired from the Islanders near the 2014 trade deadline and leading the entire NHL for the full season with 2.95 per game.
Schenn actually managed to slightly increase his blocks to 1.53 per game from 1.43 in 2013-14. In the meantime, while making a concerted effort to reduce his risk of getting out position by looking for big hits, he still managed to increase his credited hits per game slightly from 3.29 in 2013-14 to 3.34 in 2014-15. Most notably, Schenn greatly reduced the frequency with which he made bad gambles such as stepping up in the neutral zone or inside the offensive blueline to deliver a hit and promptly seeing the puck go by him for an odd-man rush.
The player has never been noted for his footwork or his puck skills. I have long argued that Schenn actually makes a quick and underrated first pass even if he's far from the quickest-skating guy or a high-end puckhandler.
Over the course of an average game, Schenn doesn't do a lot of puck handling nor does a team particularly want him doing it. The longer Schenn is forced to handle the puck, the more likely something bad happens. Less is definitely more with him and he is at his best when he has a short-range safety valve or a lane to make a medium-range pass.
On the negative side, Schenn at times last season still tried to do too much with the puck. He was second among Flyers defenseman with 39 total charged giveaways; two fewer than
Mark Streit, who plays more minutes and performs a much more offensive oriented role. Schenn topped the Flyers defense in the dubious category of charged giveaways per game (0.67). That is an opportunity for improvement next season under new head coach
Dave Hakstol.
On the flip side, Schenn was less prone to taking unnecessary icings than many of his teammates on the blueline. While this is anecdotal evidence, Schenn seemed to complete a higher percentage of his medium-range passes than at least half of the other Philadelphia defensemen last year. He may have had a few more picked off and some ended up in the Flyers net but, generally speaking, Schenn did a pretty good job of getting the puck to the forwards.
Schenn will never be an offensive defenseman. However, if left completely unmarked by an opposing team, he can step up to burn them. The Flyers even had a couple Schenn-to-Schenn goals last season, with
Brayden Schenn setting up one of Luke's three goals and Luke assisting on an early season goal in Dallas by Brayden.
On the whole, having both Schenn brothers on the same team has not proven to be especially helpful to their respective NHL development, nor has it been detrimental. Naturally, they have enjoyed playing together for the Flyers but they play different positions and styles. It should also be said that both men seem professional enough to understand there's a chance one could be traded or depart as a free agent at some point. It's not a package deal.
Back during the
Mike Keenan coaching era, the irascible Flyers head coach frequently used a motivation ploy with the Sutter twins of punishing one for something the other did. In fact, Keenan once kicked Rich off the bench during a game and ordered him back to the dressing room strictly to humiliate Ron for having a thus-far subpar night. The shock tactic was also aimed at the rest of the team in a game the Flyers trailed.
By contrast, in the current day era, coaches no longer use those sort of nuclear tactics. The Flyers coach would not bench -- nor the GM threaten to trade -- one Schenn brother because of dissatisfaction with the other. Both are judged and treated on their own merits. However, they also wouldn't refrain from making lineup and roster decisions strictly to spare the feelings of the other brother.
In other words, if Luke Schenn is traded this season -- either before opening night or at some point during the season up to the trade deadline -- it will strictly be a hockey and business move. He has one season left on his contract at a $3.6 million cap hit before reaching unrestricted free agent (UFA) eligibility in the summer of 2016.
Contrary to what some have said, the Flyers would have no problem trading Luke Schenn if they feel the need to do so. He does enough things well to be a top six defenseman in the NHL, and is still just 25 years old with nearly 500 games on his NHL resume. The Flyers are not forced to trade him, however, which means they won't move him right now unless they get fair value in return relative to his current status as a third-pairing defenseman who is one year away from being a UFA.
The worst thing that ever happened to Luke Schenn was
The Hockey News dubbing him "the next
Adam Foote" in his draft year and the Toronto Maple Leafs rushing him directly to the NHL at age 18 after making him the fifth overall pick of the 2008 NHL Draft. The pressure and expectations were inflated to unrealistic levels and he was subjected to excessive scrutiny and criticism. Being traded to Philadelphia straight up for
James van Riemsdyk was also not very helpful to Schenn's career. He went from one heavy-scrutiny situation into another, plus it was a deal the Flyers could never hope to "win" from a statistical standpoint.
In Philly his first year, Schenn was actually a bright spot his first year when paired with
Kimmo Timonen during the otherwise disappointing season that saw the team miss the playoffs. No Schenn did not magically morph into the equivalent of Foote; one of the best shutdown defensemen the game has ever seen.
The last two seasons have been roller coaster rides for Schenn. The 2013-14 season was a step backward for him. Last season, despite shuttling in and out of the lineup and enduring a rough start, Schenn played his assigned role well enough to deserve to stay in the lineup more frequently.
Early this past April, the Flyers had to shut down Schenn. The team revealed that he had sustained an abdominal muscle tear and needed surgery. The procedure had a six-week recovery timetable. He should be fine for the start of next season.
*********
TODAY IN FLYERS HISTORY FROM FlyersAlumni.org
1985: The Flyers sign
Carl Mokosak as a free agent.
1996: The Flyers sign
Steven King as a free agent.
1997: The Flyers sign unrestricted free agent defenseman
Luke Richardson to a five-year, $12.6 million contract.
2005: Following the settlement of the lockout that caused the cancellation of the 2004-05 season and resulted in the establishment of a salary cap, the Flyers buy out the contracts of
John LeClair and
Tony Amonte.
2007: The Flyers sign 2006 first-round pick
Claude Giroux to an entry-level contract. On the same day, goaltender
Brian Boucher signs an AHL contract to join the Philadelphia Phantoms.
2009: The Flyers sign free agent
Lukas Kaspar to a two-year, two-way contract. Later, after just eight games with the AHL's Adirondack Phantoms, Kaspar left the team and returned to Europe. By mutual agreement, he and the Flyers terminate the contract and the player signs with a club in Finland.
ALUM BIRTHDAY
Puck-moving defenseman
Randy Jones was born July 23, 1981. A member of the Philadelphia Phantoms' Calder Cup championship team of 2004-05, Jones dressed in 217 regular season games and 22 playoff tilts for the Flyers. He was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Kings in October 2009.
IN MEMORIAM
Today marks the 16th anniversary of the horrific boating accident in British Columbia that took the life of young Flyers defenseman
Dmitri Tertyshny. The well-liked defenseman seemed to have a bright NHL future ahead of him after a promising rookie year in 1998-99 and his death was even more tragic because he never got to meet his unborn son.
The following is an excerpt from a
related article that I authored for NHL.com in 2010:
The afternoon and early evening hours of July 23, 1999 started out pleasantly enough along Lake Okanagan. Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Dmitri Tertyshny, who had recently completed a promising NHL rookie season, went out for a day of boating in the Okanagan Valley near Kelowna, British Columbia, with fellow Russian defenseman, Mikhail Chernov, forward Francis Belanger and a local acquaintance of Belanger's. Tertyshny and Flyers minor league prospects Chernov and Belanger were taking a break from a summer power skating camp in Kelowna.
With Belanger piloting the rental boat, the other passengers were seated aboard the 17-foot vessel. At about 7:25 pm, the boat hit a steep wave and Tertyshny, kneeling on a seat on the bow, was thrown overboard. His friends watched in horror and anguish as the 22-year-old was run over by the power boat's propeller, which slashed his neck and jugular vein. Bleeding uncontrollably, an unconscious Tertyshny was brought back onboard as the boat returned to shore and an emergency crew arrived three minutes later.
The young player was rushed to Kelowna General Hospital, but it was already too late. He bled to death at around 7:30 p.m. while still on the boat.
Tertyshny's wife, Polina, and son, Alexander, ended up settling permanently in Philadelphia. Polina was four months pregnant with Alexander at the time of Dmitri's death. Alexander, a devoted Flyers fans, is slated to play prep school hockey in 2015-16.
Today also marks the 33rd anniversary of the passing of former Flyers right winger
Larry Mickey. Plagued for years with emotional and personal problems, Mickey's life was never the same again after a head-on car accident in 1967 claimed the life of his wife, Eleanor, and left him with relatively minor injuries. Hockey became Mickey's only solace. When his career ended, he became increasingly despondent and a personal downward spiral ended with him committing suicide.
In the summer of 1971, the Flyers acquired Mickey from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Wayne Hillman. Named an assistant captain before the 1971-72 season, Mickey dressed in 14 games for the Flyers. He scored one goal and three points. On Nov. 16, 1971, the Flyers traded Mickey to the Buffalo Sabres for Larry Keenan.
Overall, Mickey played 292 games in the NHL for the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, Montreal Canadiens, Kings, Flyers and Sabres. For his career, he notched 39 goals and 92 points. He was a much more prolific scorer in the minor leagues, but did manage a 15-goal NHL season for Buffalo in 1972-73.
*********
FLYERS ALUMNI FANTASY HOCKEY CAMP
The Flyers Alumni will host a fantasy hockey camp from August 21-24 in Atlantic City, open to anyone age 21 and older. Instructors and Alumni participants will include
Bernie Parent,
Brian Propp,
Ian Laperriere,
Todd Fedoruk,
Andre "Moose" Dupont,
Dave "the Hammer" Schultz,
Joe Watson and
Bob "the Hound" Kelly.
Participation costs $3,000 apiece and you can
register a spot online. Over on the Flyers' Alumni website, there is
more information on camp-related activities and on-ice schedules.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»