{"id":412792,"date":"2026-01-17T15:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/412792\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T15:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T15:49:19","slug":"is-the-brayden-schenn-era-over-why-the-blues-are-finally-ready-to-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/412792\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Brayden Schenn Era Over? Why The Blues Are Finally Ready to Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>As NHL trade rumors intensify around St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn, speculation points to a potential reunion with his brother Luke on the Winnipeg Jets (left) or a move to the Toronto Maple Leafs (right) to bolster their lineup.<\/p>\n

If you have been following the St. Louis Blues this season, the writing hasn\u2019t just been on the wall\u2014it\u2019s been spray-painted in neon orange. According to NHL insider Nick Kypreos<\/a>, 2026 is officially the year Doug Armstrong pulls the trigger on a Brayden Schenn trade.<\/p>\n

The Blues are currently sitting seven points out of a playoff spot with a league-worst -44 goal differential. That isn\u2019t a slump; that is a systemic failure. As an analyst watching this team, it is painful to see a roster stuck in the \u201cmushy middle\u201d of the NHL standings. But the context here is vital: Doug Armstrong is in his final deadline season before handing the GM reins to Alexander Steen. Armstrong is a legacy builder. He does not want to hand Steen a roster anchored by aging contracts and a losing culture. He wants to leave a clean slate.<\/p>\n

The Schenn Brothers Reunion: Winnipeg Jets or Toronto Maple Leafs?<\/p>\n

Here is where the insider talk gets spicy. Brayden Schenn was hot commodity last deadline, but his $6.5 million cap hit (with two years remaining)<\/a> is a hurdle. However, the motivation is personal. It is widely believed that Brayden and his brother, Luke Schenn<\/a>, are actively communicating a desire to play together before they retire.<\/p>\n

This points to two fascinating destinations.<\/p>\n

First, the Winnipeg Jets<\/a>. Luke is already there on an expiring deal. The fit is natural, the story is perfect, but the money is tight. The Jets would need St. Louis to retain salary to make Brayden\u2019s contract palatable.<\/p>\n

Second, the chaos option: The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>. Kypreos explicitly mentioned Toronto needs a defenseman and a scorer. In a wild scenario, could the Leafs acquire both? Toronto has never shied away from \u201cgetting creative\u201d with the cap. Luke brings the grit the Leafs perpetually lack on the blue line, and Brayden brings the heavy playoff style that Toronto needs in their top six.<\/p>\n

If I am betting today, I think Armstrong does right by his captain. He moves Schenn to a contender where he can reunite with Luke. Whether that is in Winnipeg or via a blockbuster double-deal to Toronto remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: The Blues\u2019 current core is finished.<\/p>\n

St. Louis Blues News, Fantasy Hockey & TV Schedule<\/p>\n

Want to stay ahead of the trade deadline curve? You can find all the latest St. Louis Blues news<\/a>, join our competitive Fantasy Hockey Pool for cash prizes<\/a>, and find out exactly how to watch the Blues game on TV today<\/a> right here on our website. Make sure to add nhltraderumor.com<\/a> to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletter below so you never miss a breaking story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As NHL trade rumors intensify around St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn, speculation points to a potential reunion…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412793,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[1287,5,23004,2604,20,5172,4,2783,84,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-412792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-brayden-schenn","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-leafs-trade-rumors","11":"tag-luke-schenn","12":"tag-maple-leafs","13":"tag-mapleleafs","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nick-kypreos","16":"tag-st-louis-blues","17":"tag-toronto","18":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","19":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115911234295985962","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}