Luke Schenn has the unique perspective of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs twice during his career and joined Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Tuesday’s edition of Leafs Morning Take.

Schenn, now with the Nashville Predators, is approaching the 1,000-game plateau during the 2024-25 season. It could be a banner season for Schenn as the new-look Predators were one of the clear winners of free agency. Steven Stamkos left the Tampa Bay Lightning to join the Predators in the offseason’s biggest and arguably most shocking move, changing the balance of power across conferences. The 34-year-0ld provided a behind-the-scenes look at recruiting Stamkos during Tuesday’s show.

“First of all, like everyone in the hockey world, you were thinking he’d go back to Tampa,” Schenn said of Stamkos. “And not only because he’s been there for so long and he’s won there, first-ballot Hall of Famer, all the things he’s achieved. He also had a 40-goal year, he was really productive. He was really, really good in the playoffs too. To see him land in Nashville, obviously really exciting.

“Stammer and I are really good buddies. I met him in the U18s, we were roommates. We have been really good buddies ever since there, we played a few World Juniors together, World Championships together. Our wives are really good friends. It’s one of those situations where he’s such a smart guy and the emotions of him being in one spot his entire career, you want him to make his own decision. Tried to tell him the facts about what Nashville was like. We definitely talked throughout the summer and it’s definitely a friendship, rather than a sales job.”

Schenn was selected four picks after Stamkos went first overall to the Lightning in 2008 and won consecutive Stanley Cups together in 2020 and 2021. It would be a storybook ending to the latter chapters of Stamkos and Schenn’s careers if they guide the Predators to their first title in franchise history.

The veteran defenceman has also played two seasons under Craig Berube during their shared tenures with the Philadelphia Flyers (2013-14, 2014-15) and Schenn provided Maple Leafs — and general observers with a brief scouting report on Toronto’s new head coach.

“I think he’s a great coach,” Schenn said of Berube. “He says it like it is, there’s no sugarcoating anything. What you want from a coach is someone who is black-and-white, there’s no grey area. Sometimes he’ll leave you alone, sometimes he’ll tell you to keep going.

“I think it’s great in that market, too.”

Schenn will hit the 1,000-game milestone this season, is a decorated Cup-winner and the Maple Leafs would’ve surely asked him to stay after the 2022-23 season, where him and O’Reilly opted to join the Predators instead. The entire NHL world is waiting to see how Berube affects the Maple Leafs and it appears the Core Four may face some stern in-house criticism that was lacking in previous years.