Fri, Jun 23, 2017 at 10:11pm

BRAYDEN SCHENN HEADS TO ST. LOUIS

The St. Louis Blues acquired forward Brayden Schenn from the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Jori Lehtera, a first-round draft pick (No. 27 overall) in 2017 and a conditional first-round draft pick in 2018.

What does it give the St. Louis Blues
The Blues have been searching for a true No. 1 center throughout the off-season, so maybe Schenn is their man. He played a lot of wing in Philadelphia due to the presence of both Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier, but Schenn has always preferred the pivot position. Expect the Blues to give their latest acquisition every opportunity to thrive down the middle. St. Louis paid a HUGE price to land Schenn, but did well to dump Lehtera's contract ($4.7 million/year through 2018-19) onto the Flyers.

What does it give the Philadelphia Flyers
While this deal might hurt Philadelphia briefly in the short term, Flyers GM Ron Hextall did amazingly well to land (at least) two first-round picks in exchange for Schenn (who was a winger for his club). Not only did Philadelphia select center Morgan Frost with this year's first rounder, Hextall was also able to land the Blues' top pick in 2018 as well. Furthermore, if St. Louis winds up picking in the top 10 in 2018, the Blues will keep that selection and fork over a first rounder and third rounder in 2019!

Fantasy impact
Schenn's fantasy value could rise now that he is expected to play his natural center position on a full-time basis. Lehtera's value may have all but disappeared now because he is expected to be a depth player for Philadelphia (he was a salary dump by St. Louis). Philly is building for the future, while St. Louis is attempting to get over the hump in the Western Conference. This deal will have ramifications, fantasy and otherwise, for years to come.