The Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman took part in his first morning skate at home, but will not be in the lineup against the Colorado Avalanche as the club gets him back up to speed following the birth of his third child.

Luke Schenn walked into Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday morning expecting some flashbacks to his previous tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs. But perhaps not as vivid as he initially thought.

"First guy I ran into was Nik Antropov," Schenn said with laughs.

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Antropov was Schenn’s teammate in Toronto during the 2008-09 season and now acts as a skills development consultant. It was another reminder for Schenn how much time had flow by between the nearly 11 years that had passed since he was originally a member of the Maple Leafs.

“Just walking into this building and coming into this dressing room, it’s surreal,” Schenn explained.

The Maple Leafs acquired Schenn from the Vancouver Canucks last month in exchange for a 2023 third-round draft pick, but he has played in just a pair of games as he returned back to Vancouver, as his wife, Jessica, waited out the birth of their third child, a daughter they named ‘Romee’.

Schenn skated with injured defenseman Victor Mete before the team’s morning skate as he was put through the paces for his conditioning. He later joined the team for a morning skate. The 33-year-old will not be in the lineup when the club hosts the Colorado Avalanche, primarily because the team hasn’t held a full practice since he came back to Toronto on Monday.

“With the morning skate you aren’t getting much out of that,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe explained. “He’ll get a chance to practice tomorrow, we’ll start to get him ramped up and make some decisions for the weekend.”

Schenn is no stranger to going long stretches without playing. Before his trade to the Maple Leafs, the Canucks sat him out for trade-related reasons for nearly two weeks.

“I was joking with someone here that this is my third bye week,” Schenn said. 

During his time with the Tampa Bay Lighting where he helped the team win a couple of Stanley Cups, Schenn wasn’t used on a daily basis.

“I think I can draw on that experience to understand the preparation and work that needs to go into it,” Schenn said. “I feel like I could step in here and play as soon as they need me.”

There’s no doubt that both Schenn and Leafs fans are eagerly awaiting his home re-debut with the club. Toronto’s first-round draft pick (fifth overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft, Schenn had looked for ways to find his way back to the club where it all got started whether it be during his low points when he was on waivers or free agency.

“You’re always kind of hoping the Leafs would give me a second chance, maybe the timing never worked out, maybe the timing wasn’t right.”

“You’re always kind of hoping the Leafs would give me a second chance, maybe the timing never worked out, maybe the timing wasn’t right.”

He also explained why getting the No. 2 jersey back after initially being assigned No. 22 was so important to him.

“My No. 2 Leafs jersey is probably now of the only jerseys that family and friends back home own over the course of my career so I wanted to try and put it to good use for them again.”

There will be one home game coming on Friday for Schenn to possibly get into before the club embarks on five consecutive games on the road. But for Schenn, just walking back into a familiar building brought back all of the feels. He never played in any meaningful hockey during his first run with Toronto. Older and wiser, Schenn is taking nothing for granted.

“:You appreciate what it means to play in Toronto, but not to the extend that I do now,” Schenn said, “It comes with maturity and age and what I’ve gone through in my career. You realize how great of an organization this is. Not disrespecting others but this is as good as it gets as far as how they treat players, the passionate fanbase and everything that goes along with it.”

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