OT: Luke Schenn - What happened?

[MR4]

well, he's a solid second pair dman. not great value for a top five pick.

but replace him with reinhart uf you want.

I'd trade Phaneuf for either of those in a heartbeat lol. Alzner is a top pair guy, Reinhart's projected as one

 

[audiotunesx]

I remember when Schenn was first drafted. A user here (I forget who) evaluated his talent for what it actually was at the time, rather than overwhelmingly considering his future potential. The users conclusion was that Schenn's realistic upside was that of Mike Komisarek. Looks like the fellow was right.

 

[Wendelstache]

was grilled on here for saying his potential was Luke Richardson, he'd be lucky to have a career like Luke Richardson.

He's turning into a crappier version of Aki Berg...

 

[Stephen]

Luke Schenn was never good.

He had the advantage of playing in junior with a man's body and could dominate the opposition based on being bigger and stronger than most everybody else out there. Couple that with being part of the Hockey Canada hype machine and a "cheerleader effect" of graduating with a stellar Canadian class including Stamkos, Doughty, Pietrangelo, etc. and being drafted by a team desperate for a fresh start, you had the makings of one overhyped, undertalented defenseman.

He never developed much in the way of offensive ability, handles the puck like it's a live grenade, has a terrible wind up and an inefficient point shot, passes like he's in a fan contest, has lead for feet, is too slow to throw big open ice hits, gets cycled like crazy, doesn't seem to have good defensive positioning, whiffs on the puck often when he's trying to make routine plays, an crumples under pressure. He can't fight, doesn't have a natural mean streak, etc.

He's just really bad.

 

[YearsintheWilderness]

Luke Schenn was never good.

He had the advantage of playing in junior with a man's body and could dominate the opposition based on being bigger and stronger than most everybody else out there. Couple that with being part of the Hockey Canada hype machine and a "cheerleader effect" of graduating with a stellar Canadian class including Stamkos, Doughty, Pietrangelo, etc. and being drafted by a team desperate for a fresh start, you had the makings of one overhyped, undertalented defenseman.

He never developed much in the way of offensive ability, handles the puck like it's a live grenade, has a terrible wind up and an inefficient point shot, passes like he's in a fan contest, has lead for feet, is too slow to throw big open ice hits, gets cycled like crazy, doesn't seem to have good defensive positioning, whiffs on the puck often when he's trying to make routine plays, an crumples under pressure. He can't fight, doesn't have a natural mean streak, etc.

He's just really bad.

That about sums it up.

Which is instructive regarding Leafs fans when you consider how many metaphorically got their appendages out and spasmodically went to work pistoning away whenever Schenn came up for discussion.

 

[Stephen]

was grilled on here for saying his potential was Luke Richardson, he'd be lucky to have a career like Luke Richardson.

He's turning into a crappier version of Aki Berg...

Schenn would have probably done a lot better during the dead puck era. Just sit back and hook and interfere like a random Dallas Star like Craig Ludwig or something.

 

[Stephen]

I remember when Schenn was first drafted. A user here (I forget who) evaluated his talent for what it actually was at the time, rather than overwhelmingly considering his future potential. The users conclusion was that Schenn's realistic upside was that of Mike Komisarek. Looks like the fellow was right.

Probably me! I hated that pick.

 

[Joey24]

The main problem I have seen from Schenn and his game is his skating and agility around the ice. When drafted he wasn't considered a good skater by any means of the imagination but he was good enough positionally and had a good head for the game.

Then for some reason he decided to get huge and the little mobility he had was now even worse and his skating never improved. Skating is one thing I see as being easy to improve especially at this level, and with the amount of resoursed and access to the ice that NHL players have. Schenn looks like a beer league guy playing in an NHL game. Is it the players fault? The coaching staff? Management? maybe a little of all those things.

If Schenn trimmed down got to a reasonable size put everything he had into working on his skating, foot speed, and agility around the ice he would be a great NHL defenseman. He thinks the game well but his lack of mobility kills him.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Probably me! I hated that pick.

To be honest though, he's still one of the top 15 people from that draft easily. There are some 1st rounders who either haven't, or rarely have, played in the NHL. Myers would have been a better pick, and then there were later guys such as Demers, Carlson, Eberle, etc. who would be better, but weren't projected anywhere near our spot. We could have messed up that pick a lot more, and it did result in JVR, so I'm extremely happy with it in hindsight.

 

[Stephen]

To be honest though, he's still one of the top 15 people from that draft easily. There are some 1st rounders who either haven't, or rarely have, played in the NHL. Myers would have been a better pick, and then there were later guys such as Demers, Carlson, Eberle, etc. who would be better, but weren't projected anywhere near our spot. We could have messed up that pick a lot more, and it did result in JVR, so I'm extremely happy with it in hindsight.

Stamkos
Doughty
Pietrangelo
Karlsson
Josi
Myers
Eberle
Hamonic
Voynov
Stepan
Carlson
Gardiner
Hodgson
Henrique
Boedker
Bogosian
Del Zotto
Schultz
Nyqvist
Brodie
Holtby
Demers
Ennis
Wilson
Spurgeon
Wiercioch

I dunno, I think any of those guys would/will be a better pick than Schenn.

 

[Stephen]

Larsson is far from a "defensive Dman with little actual skill".

Yeah, Larsson was advertised more like a Victor Hedman when he was drafted.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=891072

 

[Anth93]

Thought he and Kaberle were exceptional for a period that extended to about half a season in 2010-11, maybe 2009-10.

He seemed to get worse with experience, doesn't help that he's become such a big guy.

 

[stish]

Yo. Ding Dong man. Ding Dong. Ding Dong,Yo.

 

[Bionda]

Luke Schenn was never good.

He had the advantage of playing in junior with a man's body and could dominate the opposition based on being bigger and stronger than most everybody else out there. Couple that with being part of the Hockey Canada hype machine and a "cheerleader effect" of graduating with a stellar Canadian class including Stamkos, Doughty, Pietrangelo, etc. and being drafted by a team desperate for a fresh start, you had the makings of one overhyped, undertalented defenseman.

He never developed much in the way of offensive ability, handles the puck like it's a live grenade, has a terrible wind up and an inefficient point shot, passes like he's in a fan contest, has lead for feet, is too slow to throw big open ice hits, gets cycled like crazy, doesn't seem to have good defensive positioning, whiffs on the puck often when he's trying to make routine plays, an crumples under pressure. He can't fight, doesn't have a natural mean streak, etc.

He's just really bad.

Yes, this sums it up perfectly. He's routinely made to look foolish by 3rd and 4th liners. Every aspect of his skating is poor.

Being physically dominant in juniors/college is meaningless, there have been so many d-men touted for being big and strong who were scrubs in the NHL because they lacked the quickness to be able to impose their strength, and lacked the mental acumen needed to position themselves for a good hit.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

His lack of foot speed was and still is his biggest detriment. I honestly don't know how a return to junior would have improved this. He went on to add more bulk as a defenceman of his size and stature should, and all that did was making him so slow it looked like he was skating in quicksand.

Also, for the life of me, I could never figure out how such a big and hulking guy like him could have such a wimpy shot.

 

[zeke]

I'd trade Phaneuf for either of those in a heartbeat lol. Alzner is a top pair guy, Reinhart's projected as one

glad you're not in charge.

 

[zeke]

I remember when Schenn was first drafted. A user here (I forget who) evaluated his talent for what it actually was at the time, rather than overwhelmingly considering his future potential. The users conclusion was that Schenn's realistic upside was that of Mike Komisarek. Looks like the fellow was right.

 

[Eddie Livingstone]

This is Ben Smith. A 4th liner.

holy hell, knowing hes a poor skater he should watch his angles or lines alot better. he got sucked into the boards opening all that ice. a little hockey sense would help.

 

[BertCorbeau]

It seems like just yesterday that he stepped into the league as a 19 year old and the future looked so bright. An Adam Foote would be good, we thought. Early on his presence was exciting, shadowing Malkin, sticking up for teammates, etc.

Couple of years on and Luke is almost 25, and as it seems barely in the Flyer's top 6.

Obviously we won the trade, but what happened to Luke?

Ron Wilson happened, that's what

 

[Trapper]

His lack of foot speed was and still is his biggest detriment. I honestly don't know how a return to junior would have improved this. He went on to add more bulk as a defenceman of his size and stature should, and all that did was making him so slow it looked like he was skating in quicksand.

Also, for the life of me, I could never figure out how such a big and hulking guy like him could have such a wimpy shot.

Game changed as well. Moved to skill and speed. A host of new obstruction penalties came in that allowed smaller players to thrive. Players like this that couldn't clutch and grab are phased out. See Komisarek.

 

[Stephen]

Game changed as well. Moved to skill and speed. A host of new obstruction penalties came in that allowed smaller players to thrive. Players like this that couldn't clutch and grab are phased out. See Komisarek.

They were well into that era before Schenn was even drafted though.

 

[Quares27]

In junior he looked good because he was bigger than everyone. In the beginning in the NHL he looked good because we liked his physicality, he was the new toy, the team around him was so bad that anyone decent stood out, and he could be sheltered as a rookie.

It's silly to say his ceiling was always really low though. He clearly had a lot of potential when we drafted him. But really he has just never improved. His skating, puck-handling, IQ, shot and passing are arguably even worse than when he came into the league.

 

[Trapper]

They were well into that era before Schenn was even drafted though.

It began right after the last lockout but took awhile for some management to embrace what the change meant. They still loved their 6'2 players. It's a moot point because for us Schenn turned into JVR. I'm quite happy with that.

 

[Brown Dog]

Bad skater, low hockey IQ = bad pick.

So glad Leafs traded him when they did!

 

[New Liskeard]

every year some dumb team wastes a top ten pick on a "defensive dman" with little actual skill. every year. schenn cowen valabik alzner larsson gudbranson etc etc.

teams really should stop doing that.

Alzner is an excellent dman that the Leafs would be very lucky to have, heck he is what this team needs. You haven't watched him when making that comment. Cowen looked very good for a while before a recent set back; he could still be very good. Your comment on Alzner is a joke.