Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving should acquire Brayden Schenn ... if he can

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If Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has the opportunity to acquire Brayden Schenn in the next week, he needs to do it.

There are several reasons why the Leafs have interest in the St. Louis Blues captain. He would bring experience, another dose of leadership and on-ice savvy that you would expect from a Stanley Cup winner.

Add Schenn and the Leafs would hit the post-season tournament with a 1-2-3 punch of captain Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Schenn up the middle. Most clubs across the National Hockey League would take that centre depth in a heartbeat.

Schenn was set to play in his 1,000th National Hockey League game on Thursday night when the Blues visited the Washington Capitals and, in the morning, was asked about hearing his name in rumours.

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“The times I’ve (been) traded, I didn’t expect to get traded,” Schenn told reporters in Washington. “You never really know. I’ve always said I love it here in St. Louis. It’s a great organization, a great place to play.

“I definitely know it’s a business and that just comes with the flows of where we’re positioned, five points out of the playoffs. But it’s the trade deadline (which is set for March 7 at 3 p.m. ET), so some people make rumours and when the Toronto media gets a hold of it — which is probably bigger than the rest of the league — you take it a day at a time and just focus on your game and play.”

Back in 2011, Schenn was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers by the Los Angeles Kings. In 2017, the Flyers traded him to the Blues. Both deals came in the off-season.

There is plenty to keep in mind when pondering a potential trade for Schenn. First, he has a full no-trade clause, so he would have to give his blessing to any trade.

But, notably, Schenn didn’t appear to cross his arms on Thursday and say with 100% conviction that there was no way he would agree to a trade out of St. Louis.

Like his older brother Luke, Brayden doesn’t shy away from anything, has put a lot of NHL miles on his body and he’s going to turn 34 in August. Schenn’s best days in the best hockey league in the world are behind him.

Also, there’s the issue of his contract as, after this season, Schenn has three years remaining with an average annual value of $6.5 million US.

If you’re concerned that another three years is too long, we ask you this: How much does it bother you today that defenceman Chris Tanev, at the age of 35, has another five years left on his contract?

With the high-level manner in which Tanev has played for the Leafs and made them better, worrying about his contract down the road is wasted energy. Ditto for Schenn.

If a Schenn deal were to happen, Treliving might have to get third team involved to retain some salary, as the Chicago Blackhawks did in the three-team trade in January that saw star forward Mikko Rantanen land with the Carolina Hurricanes after being dealt by the Colorado Avalanche.

If Treliving is serious about making an impactful move in the next week, he’s going to have to bite the bullet on using any one (or two) of the Leafs’ top prospects in a trade, whether it’s Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, Nikita Grebenkin or Ben Danford. What each of them has now is potential, but we can’t say with any certainty how any of them will continue to develop and whether they will play a role in any success the Leafs have sometime down the road.

Schenn or, for that matter, Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers, would help now.

Where there could be some hesitation on the part of Treliving is the lack of a first-round pick in 2025. Taking that into account, what kind of appetite will Treliving have to part with Toronto’s first-round selection in 2026?

Bringing Schenn aboard would reunite him with Leafs coach Craig Berube, so there would be little time required for the veteran centre to get accustomed to his former coach’s system. And, from his standpoint, Berube would have no feeling-out period with Schenn.

From the drop of the puck in Schenn’s first game with Toronto, Berube would know exactly how and where he would use his former Blues player.

Beyond this summer, the Leafs know they’ll have captain Auston Matthews under contract through the 2027-28 season and William Nylander through 2031-32.

No matter what happens with potential free agents Mitch Marner and Tavares, Matthews and Nylander provide a rock-solid foundation for the future. And while the Leafs’ performance in the playoffs could be a factor in whether Marner and Tavares stay (especially Marner), the belief for many today is that both will re-sign.

In Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, the Leafs have their best goaltending tandem in years. Berube has the team playing in a no-nonsense style that almost every observer thinks will serve it well in the playoffs. Marner and Nylander are having career years. Even the secondary scoring, as we’ve seen in recent games, has kicked it up a notch.

The puzzle for the Leafs — and this can be said of any contender in the NHL — is not complete.

Schenn would bring the Leafs closer to the puzzle’s solution.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun