Luke Schenn impressed his teammates with his physical presence with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Teammate Morgan Rielly says the team saw footage of Schenn on display in their video meeting on Friday.
VANCOUVER — Luke Schenn came as advertised in his return to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
The veteran defenseman was a physical presence around the net and in the neutral zone during the Maple Leafs’ 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames.
Ahead of their upcoming game against the Vancouver Canucks, Morgan Rielly said the team saw Schenn's play in the team's video preparation for Saturday's game.
"We watched some clips this morning of him being physical and whatnot. I think as a group we welcome that," Rielly said. "We want more of that and he does that naturally."
A couple of highlights in Schenn's game included a collision with Calgary's Milan Lucic. Schenn also ensured that Calgary's Jonathan Huberdeau paid a price for his presence in front of the net.
The 33-year-old Schenn was acquired by the Maple Leafs earlier this week from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2023 third-round draft pick. He spent most of the game paired with Rielly at even strength.
Schenn was one of several newcomers the Leafs added to their deadline. Of the new faces, Toronto got more physical and it's something the team is beginning to embrace.
"The contributions from our new players — there were six of them last night — their contributions were significant and prevalent in that video," Keefe confirmed.
In addition to Schenn, the Leafs acquired Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues, Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty from the Chicago Blackhawks. The Leafs also added Erik Gustafsson from the Washington Capitals.