Luke Schenn has had a long career where he's battled to stay in the league at times, but he's about to hit an impressive milestone.
Luke Schenn has had a long career where he's battled to stay in the league at times, but he's about to hit an impressive milestone.
The Nashville Predators are going to have Luke Schenn hit 1000 career games this season, and soon. The veteran defenseman only needs four games to reach the big milestone and he is the next closest player in the league that can hit it.
Schenn had somewhat of a tough first season with the Predators, but the right side of the defense is weaker and he will get into the majority of the games this season. He isn't expected to be traded before the season kicks off, so I expect him to reach 1000 games in the first 4-5 games. If he plays in the team's first four games of 2024-25, Schenn will hit 1000 games at home against the Edmonton Oilers on October 17.
When Schenn reaches the milestone, he will join two other Predators teammates in playing 1000 regular season games. The other two are Ryan O'Reilly and Steven Stamkos. Schenn and Stamkos won two Stanley Cups together in Tampa Bay as well before they both found their way best to Nashville.
This will be Schenn's 17th season in the NHL. he has played for eight different franchises, starting with the Toronto Maple Leafs. That also happens to be one of two teams he has had two stints with. The other was the Vancouver Canucks. Schenn played 63 games with the Predators last season, the exact same amount of games he played in two seasons for the Lightning.
Schenn would've hit 1000 career games a lot sooner, but he fell off for three seasons between 2019-21. In that time, he only got into 89 games, going from the Anaheim Ducks to Vancouver to being a depth defenseman on the Stanley Cup winning teams in Tampa Bay. He has played in 47 playoff games in his NHL career as well.
The veteran found his game and proved himself enough by 2021-22 that he has now played three consecutive seasons in which he has gotten into more than 60 games. After Schenn hits the milestone, the next Predators player that will join them is Roman Josi, but that won't come until the start of the 2025-26 season as he sits 91 games from 1000. Schenn is looking to find another level again and be a big contributor in a big season for Nashville.
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