Toronto was able to take it down to the wire, but the news coming down on Thursday indicated that the Maple Leafs had signed Luke Schenn to a new contract.
Schenn was one of the three remaining restricted free agent defenseman at the beginning of this week. With Zach Bogosian and now Schenn locked up, the only one remaining is Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings.
Since being drafted fifth overall in 2008, Schenn’s development into a franchise defenseman, as Toronto had hoped, has been slow. His point totals in three full seasons with the Leafs aren’t anything too impressive, with his career high of 21 coming last season. Of course, it would also help if he had more talent around him.
Even with a low point output, Schenn has established himself as a physically dominant player on defense for Toronto. He had 251 hits last season, as well as blocking 168 shots. Even with all of those hits, he still managed to serve just 34 penalty minutes all year.
Though the deal took the entire summer to come to fruition, the thought the entire time was that Schenn would agree to a deal at some point. Especially with little-to-no action surrounding restricted free agents throughout the league.
Terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, but TSN’s Bob McKenzie, as he so often is, was the first to break the news:
September 15, 2011 11:01 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
September 15, 2011 11:04 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite
If that $3.5 million turns out to be correct, the Maple Leafs may have gotten themselves a bargain if Schenn pans out, especially with the market inflated as much as it has been this summer. Full details of Schenn’s new contract will be available once the Leafs make them public.
“Of course, it would also help if he had more talent around him.”
Now THAT is one MAJOR understatement.