In the most recent episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs attempted to trade for St. Louis Blues forward Brayden Schenn at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
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The idea behind the move was that the Maple Leafs were aiming to acquire both Brayden and Luke Schenn as they prepared to make a long playoff run. However, because Luke was traded to the Winnipeg Jets, Brayden ultimately decided to block a trade to Toronto.
Schenn Blocks Trade to Toronto
In Friedman’s report, he credited his colleague Nick Kypreos for the original reporting around the Schenn talks but added what he had heard on the matter. He mentioned that it wasn’t Blues general manager Doug Armstrong who said no to the reported deal involving Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, and a pick. Instead, it was Schenn himself who refused to waive, and for a very interesting reason. Here’s what Friedman had to say:
“I heard two other versions. So somewhere between the three of them is the truth. Number one I heard was that Schenn wasn’t going to waive to Toronto unless the Maple Leafs also got Luke.
Like when that was all going on about teams uniting the Schenn brothers, that’s what I think Toronto was trying to do. And if the Maple Leafs had gotten Luke, I think Brayden would have waived to go there. So part of the problem was, since that didn’t happen and Luke went to Winnipeg, where he’s now available, I don’t think this deal was going to get done.
I don’t think Brayden was going to waive. The other thing I heard was that the Maple Leafs also looked at the situation and said, instead of doing that deal, we can do more by making two deals. And they ended up making the deals they made, the one for [Brandon] Carlo and the one for [Scott] Laughton.”
As Friedman’s report suggests, the Maple Leafs were one of the teams that tried to unite the Schenn brothers. If they had landed Luke in a trade, it likely would have meant Brayden would have waived to join Toronto as well. That would have left the Maple Leafs’ lineup looking drastically different this season, with Cowan no longer on the roster and Danford likely pushing for a roster spot next year.
Schenn Not Waiving Was the Right Outcome
Friedman and co-host Kyle Bukauskas went on to acknowledge how big of a mistake it could have been to trade away the organization’s two biggest prospects for two aging players. It’s a tough debate. Do you go for an impact that might be felt immediately but hurts the long-term plan?
Schenn brothers, Brayden Schenn and Luke Schenn (The Hockey Writers)
The Maple Leafs did something similar with the Carlo and Laughton trades by dealing Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin. However, most would argue that Cowan and Danford are better overall prospects than Minten and Grebenkin, which would have made the impact far worse. On top of that, the Schenn brothers are much older than Laughton and Carlo.
Although some fans may have wanted the Schenn brothers in Toronto, it wasn’t worth it, especially considering how strong the team already was last season. The asking price simply didn’t make sense. If Brayden was going to cost Cowan, Danford, and a pick, and Luke was dealt for a second- and fourth-round pick, it just wasn’t worth pulling off both trades. When you factor in their age and how quickly decline can happen in the NHL, it would not have been a smart long-term move.
And while some may argue that neither the Carlo nor the Laughton trade was ideal, with a real debate around how those deals have turned out, especially the Carlo trade, it’s still a blessing in disguise that Brad Treliving didn’t land Luke. If he had, the follow-up move for Brayden could have seriously damaged the Maple Leafs’ future.
