NHL trade deadline: Leafs acquire Luke Schenn from Canucks

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defenceman Luke Schenn from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick.

In a separate deal, Toronto also sent forward Pierre Engvall to the New York Islanders in exchange for a third-round draft pick in 2024.

Schenn returns to the Maple Leafs after spending the first four seasons of his career with the team. Toronto drafted the Saskatchewan native with the fifth-overall pick in the 2008 draft.

The 33-year-old has carved out a nice NHL career, spending time with the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning, in addition to his stints with the Leafs and Canucks. Schenn was part of the back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning Lightning teams in 2020 and '21.

Schenn has scored three goals with 18 assists in 55 games with the Canucks in 2022-23 and leads the NHL in hits. He carries an $850,000 cap hit this season and will hit unrestricted free agency this summer.

Engvall, 26, has 12 goals and nine assists in 58 games this season with Toronto. He was a seventh-round draft pick of the Leafs in 2014 and had spent his entire NHL career to this point with the franchise.

These moves are the latest in a flurry of transactions for Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas. The Leafs started off their trade season by acquiring former Conn Smythe winner Ryan O'Reilly and forward Noel Acciari earlier this month, and have followed up that blockbuster by landing Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, Erik Gustafsson and Schenn in a number of separate deals.

Engvall joins Rasmus Sandin, Joey Anderson, Pavel Gogolev, Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette as players who have left the organization.

Toronto is firmly entrenched in a playoff spot but is facing immense pressure to make a legitimate postseason run this spring after a series of disappointing first-round exits.