The St. Louis Blues could have traded Jori Lehtera for a broken hockey stick and most fans would have felt like the Blues got away with robbery.
Instead, the Blues traded Lehtera (along with two picks) to the Philadelphia Flyers for Brayden Schenn. Blues fans understandably celebrated following the deal, assuming Schenn would give the team some help on offense and on the power play.
Little did we all know that Schenn would come in and exceed a point-per-game pace and be one of the top scorers in the NHL.
Through 20 games, Schenn already has seven goals and 18 assists for 25 total points.
To put that in perspective…
Brayden Schenn has 25 points (7 goals, 18 assists) in 20 games this season and it's only Nov. 16. He didn't get his 25th point last season with #flyers until Jan. 1, the 36th game. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) November 17, 2017
That’s a pretty crazy start to the season. Meanwhile, Lehtera has just one assist in 12 games, even though the two players really shouldn’t be compared.
Fans knew Schenn would be a good fit with the Blues. No one could have predicted just how good of a fit he’d be in his first season.
When asked about his early success with the Blues, Schenn responded that a lot of it has to do with the team’s confidence in him as a player.
Via NHL.com:
“It’s confidence. Confidence from the coaching staff to put me in all situations. You’ve got to go out there and perform. I’ve been playing a little bit of [penalty kill], power play, and with good players against top lines. Me, I just try to go out there and do a job.”
It also helps that Schenn has been skating with a couple of dynamic forwards in Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. There’s no question that the Blues have needed a top center for years, and they appear to have finally found that piece in Schenn.
Mike Yeo has a much simpler explanation for Schenn’s success.
“Because he’s a good player. That’s the easiest answer.”
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