Sabres Working To Acquire Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley

The Sabres are working on a trade to acquire defensemen Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley from the Jets, sources tell David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. Chad DeDominicis of Expected Buffalo was first to report that the deal was in process. In return, Winnipeg will receive Buffalo’s 2027 second-round pick, forward prospect Isak Rosen, and left-defender Jacob Bryson per Frank Seravalli of Victory+.

It appears Schenn, 36, will be heading to the 10th team of his 18-year career. It’ll also be his second straight year being moved at the deadline. He arrived in Winnipeg this time last season via the Penguins, who he never actually played for after being acquired from the Predators two days prior. He’s now in the final season of the three-year, $8.25MM pact he signed with Nashville as a free agent in 2023.

Few Jets skaters have lived up to expectations this season. Schenn is no exception. Even in a bottom-pairing role, he’s looked overmatched, posting seven points and a -11 rating in 46 outings. He’s been in the press box for stretches, has only averaged 13:44 of ice time per game when dressed, and Winnipeg has been outscored 29-16 with him on the ice at 5-on-5 while controlling only 43.4% of shot attempts.

The 2008 fifth overall pick has been a third-pairing piece for most of his NHL career, but he’s now operating as more of a #7/#8 piece – even on a team outside of the playoff picture like Winnipeg. He does still provide physical value – he leads the Jets with 139 hits, a figure that now ranks third on Buffalo behind Beck Malenstyn and Peyton Krebs.

Outside of that, he’ll provide the Sabres with experienced and much-needed right-shot depth, but whether he factors into their lineup on a regular basis remains to be seen. While Michael Kesselring has been hampered by injuries and has only managed one assist and a -4 rating in 28 outings over his first year in Buffalo, his under-the-hood numbers still paint him as a preferable third-pairing option to Schenn on the right side. He’s averaging comparable ice time at 13:45 per game and has controlled 48.8% of shot attempts at even strength.

Stanley, though, should be a regular piece. Finding stability on the third pairing has been one of the few hiccups this season in Buffalo, whose top four of Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, and Bowen Byram is comprised entirely of lefties. They’ve been unsuccessful in their pursuit of an impact piece, nearly striking a deal for Blues star righty Colton Parayko, which fell apart when he invoked his no-trade clause.

Drafted 18th overall in 2016, the 27-year-old Stanley isn’t a right-shot option like they wanted, but should easily usurp Jacob Bryson as the de facto third-pairing lefty. His 6’7″, 231-lb frame has sometimes made him a frustrating defender to watch – with so much potential there, he’s only hit 100 hits once in his career, and has consistently been underwater on the possession front due to his subpar skating mechanics.

This season, though, the pending UFA has found a new gear. His nine goals in 59 games are nearly twice what he had in five previous NHL seasons to date, and he’s added 12 assists for 21 points. That’s a career high by a wide margin and has him seventh on the Jets in scoring, only trailing Josh Morrissey among defenders. An unsustainable 12.2% shooting rate is fueling it, but it’s worth noting that only one of those points, an assist, has come on the power play. All of that production is coming at even strength, where he’s seen his minutes boosted and is now averaging a career-high 17:12 per game.

Assuming a regular group of Dahlin, Byram, Samuelsson, Power, Stanley, and Kesselring, Buffalo will enter its first postseason appearance in 15 years with a ridiculously imposing defense core averaging 6’4″ and 218 lbs.

Image courtesy of Terrence Lee-Imagn Images.