The Leafs have reportedly been ramping up their efforts to shore up the blueline, given their overall struggles throughout the season and the fact that Chris Tanev’s status is uncertain. While their preference is a puck-mover, as TSN’s Darren Dreger noted on January 6th, that doesn’t mean it will preclude them from improving the overall depth.

Johnston shared his report during an episode of The Chris Johnston Show released on Monday, stating that the Leafs targeting Schenn for a third stint makes sense given their limited tradeable assets.

“There’s already some rumblings around that they’re even looking at a third trip through with Luke Schenn right now,” he said. “Obviously at this stage of Luke’s career, I think that the acquisition cost would be more modest and worked really well with him and Morgan Rielly. So we’ll see if that’s something that comes to fruition, but certainly have heard some talk in that direction.”

Schenn had previously been with the Leafs from when he was drafted fifth overall in 2008 to 2012, when he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for James van Riemsdyk. He returned 11 years later at the 2023 trade deadline from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick that was used to select Sawyer Mynio. While Schenn was reportedly interested in re-signing with the Leafs during that subsequent offseason, he ended up signing a three-year, $8.25M contract with the Nashville Predators on July 1st, 2023.

The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported on January 7th that Schenn is open to a change of scenery in the wake of him being a healthy scratch on what would have been his 1100th career game when the Jets played the Leafs on New Year’s Day. TSN’s Darrer Dreger speculated the next day on Overdrive that if the Leafs wanted to reunite with Schenn, he could be had for a ‘lower-round pick’.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Leafs attempted to bring back the shutdown defenceman, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on an episode of 32 Thoughts The Podcast on January 9th that their pursuit of Brayden Schenn hinged on the Leafs also acquiring his older brother in a separate trade. When those deals fell through, they instead shifted their focus to acquiring Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo, which they were ultimately able to achieve at the 2025 Trade Deadline.

While it remains to be seen if this third reunion will come to fruition, bringing back Luke Schenn would make sense given the familiarity from all parties involved.

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