Canucks: Popular Luke Schenn returns for third stint to help carry culture

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Last year, it was keeping the band together on July 1 with monster deals to appease captain Quinn Hughes.

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Brock Boeser, Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko all bagged handsome contract extensions on the first day of free agency, but friendship only went so far. The Canucks bottomed out, Hughes and Garland were traded, the team finished last, revamped its hockey operations department, and committed to a roster rebuild.

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It’s why the news Wednesday that popular free agent depth defenceman Luke Schenn, 36, is returning for his third stint in Vancouver is a reunion tour that strikes harmonious notes. Schenn will earn $2.25 million US for a one-year deal to help stabilize a young back end, just like he previously did with Hughes.

Schenn led the NHL in hits in 2022-23 with 318, and his influence on and off the ice was important. Accountability as a voice of reason would resonate with Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson, who has made culture a key component of the rebuild.

“I’m excited to come back,” Schenn said Wednesday via Zoom. “Vancouver to me has felt like home, and I’m super comfortable with the organization. It’s not just place to put in another year in the NHL. I’m not going there and riding it out and collecting another paycheque. I’m fired up.

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“I care about what they’re doing with the rebuild, and I want to make things better. Culture is not one thing. It’s practice habits and not taking short-cuts off the ice, in the gym, or in a game. It’s shift by shift. No matter what the circumstances are, it’s not being negative when things go wrong. And it’s hating to lose.”

Schenn’s career evolvement to log 1,122 career regular-season games is not lost on the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Saskatoon native. His two previous stints in Vancouver meant a lot, and so does this one in which Elias Pettersson, Boeser and Demko are the only remaining familiar faces.

“The first go-around I was just trying to get back and establish myself as an NHL player,” he recalled. “The second time, trying to win and still prove yourself. This time, I understand the role to pass on my experience. I’ve been a high draft pick, traded, in the AHL, and the press box, and won the Cup. I’ve been on winning teams and rebuilding teams.

“There’s a lot I can share. There are going to be bumps and bruises along the way, but you have to be positive and work with everyone. A whirlwind of a career, and nothing I would have ever predicted. I’ve been resilient and stubborn when you get written off. I still have something to prove.”

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It’s also paying it forward, because Johnson played a role in Schenn’s career resurgence.

“RJ is part of why I got back in the NHL,” stressed Schenn. “I was traded from Anaheim and had to start in Utica. RJ was incredible and in my corner and pushed to get me back in the NHL. Really respect him.”

Schenn also played against Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra, and had him as an assistant coach in Vancouver and Toronto.

“It was how hard he worked and competed,” said Schenn. “Super prepared, and a great communicator and easy to talk to.”

Schenn also has a connection with newly acquired veteran winger Brendan Gallagher. They would skate and train together in Kelowna during the off-season, and obviously bumped bodies as NHL opponents.

“He has been texting me already and we know we can help out,” added Schenn. “(Gallagher) was always around the net and hard on pucks. It was really, ‘Do I have to have a shift against him?’ Second and third efforts and he does a lot that guys can feed off.”

The Canucks hit on another quest for size, strength and bite on Wednesday by signing left winger Paul Cotter, 26, to a one-year contract at $2.15 million. The Michigan native is big and abrasive at 6-foot-2, 213 pounds, and was second in club hits at 192. The fourth-round draft pick by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018 had 15 points (9-6) with the Devils this past season.

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The Canucks also signed forward Akil Thomas, 26, to a one-year, two-way contract that pays $900,000 at the NHL level. He played for two AHL clubs this year, logged 32 NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings and had seven points (4-3).

And in another grit acquisition, the Canucks signed 5-foot-7 winger Trey Fix-Wolansky, 27, to a one-year, two-way deal that also pays $900,000 in the NHL. He had 121 penalty minutes this AHL season with Hartford. He also logged six points (4-2) in 26 NHL games with Columbus.

OVERTIME — UFA centre Teddy Blueger, 31, signed a two-year deal with the Maple Leafs at $2.25 in annual average value. Group 6 unrestricted free agent winger Curtis Douglas, 26, got two years at $1.25 million annually from the Seattle Kraken.

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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