Major Trade News Emerges Between Maple Leafs and Blues Ahead of Deadline, per Insider

All the talk recently has been surrounding whether our not the Toronto Maple Leafs and St. Louis Blues are going to come together to make a deal involving Blues captain Brayden Schenn as both teams look to improve albeit going in different directions at the moment.

So with questions about if a trade can even be done without Toronto handicapping their future, some news out of St. Louis gives some massive clarity regarding what the outcome is going to be.

While it's been reported Toronto has the assets available, it's really a big question mark of the value in being equal to the value going out, and at the time it's really not even.

Schenn is great, but also 33 and only a year younger than John Tavares. His production is still solid but he's regressed from previous years and is on the downswing of his career; not to mention Toronto has him another three years.

While it's great having a player with term, having a regressing veteran at age-36 when all is said and done is a tough pill to swallow especially if it doesn't bring the team a Cup, and nothing is guaranteed.

The presumed package for Schenn is going to be at minimum Easton Cowan as well as potentially Toronto's 2025 2nd round pick as well as their 2026 1st rounder; a huge price to pay.

While the picks are valuable and Toronto can kind of turn a blind eye when parting with them while bringing in the right pieces, is Schenn the game changer worthy of Cowan?

Arguably, yes due to his previous familiarity under Craig Berube, winning a Stanley Cup (with Berube as well), and being one of the best two-way forwards in the league.

But this isn't 2015 or 2022 anymore, and Schenn's former 25+ goal scoring outbursts are pretty much a thing of the past.

He is coming off three straight 20-goal seasons however this season has seen a sharp decline, not only in goals but his shots have decreased and his defense has taken a hit (though that could be to a middling Blues lineup as well).

This season, Schenn has 12 goals and 24 assists in 60 games while adding 150 hits, winning 50.7% of his face-offs in 17:32 TOI.

The only thing that makes any of this tolerable is if Schenn can add another 5-10 goals, win a ton of face-offs, get back to his defensive wizardry, and bring a Cup to Toronto.

That's a lot to ask from a 33-year old veteran, and while he is capable of shouldering the load, it might get too heavy for him to handle.

If Schenn crumbles, then so does Toronto's playoff hopes, and their future they spent on him.

Is that really worth it? Only time will tell.