Brayden Schenn Becoming the Teacher for Young Islanders

Brayden Schenn enjoys being a teacher.

Stylistically, however, he doesn’t force it, especially when it comes to his linemates Cal Ritchie and Victor Eklund for whom Schenn’s tutelage as a Stanley Cup champion is becoming valuable.

Part of Schenn’s leadership style is letting Ritchie and Eklund know that they can go to him with anything. Through the early stages of the season, they’ve both taken advantage of that offer and it’s become a constant funnel of communication on that line.

“It's not coming to the rink every day and telling them what to do or telling them what I think,” Schenn said. “If there's opportunities or situations as a group, as a line, where you can come and talk about some things, how we can get better, I think we're all pretty open to it.”

“It's just not them relying on me for ideas, I have to rely on them too,” Schenn added. “They have different ideas and see the game [in] different ways and I think when you learn from each other, that’s how you get better. I enjoy that aspect of the game because someone helped me when I was young.It’s a tough league and you have to be willing to help your teammates, but when it comes vice versa, I learn a lot from them as well.”

The 35-year-old Schenn is in his 18^th NHL season and understands what it’s like being in Ritchie’s and Eklund’s shoes as a young, talented player in the league.

Schenn said his leadership style is derived from his own experience learning from Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell and Daniel Brière with the Philadelphia Flyers. He also adopted qualities from Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Steen and Alex Pietrangelo in St. Louis where Schenn won a Stanley Cup in 2019.

Schenn – who scored a goal in Game 7 against Boston in that Stanley Cup Final – is now in a position to help two of the three youngest New York Islanders find their footing in the NHL with the 20-year-old Eklund and the 21-year-old Ritchie.

There’s a stark juxtaposition in the NHL experience between the Islanders’ second line. Schenn has logged 1,107 NHL games while Ritchie (77) and Eklund (6) have played 83 games combined.

Schenn can often be found wedged between Ritchie and Eklund on the bench, with the two hanging on what the poised veteran has to say in practice. One of Schenn’s most prominent messages to the young talents has been simple: don’t worry about the stat sheet.

“This league's challenging so you got to be you got to be hard on pucks, you have to win your battles as a line, you have to play connected and support each other and be good in both ends of the ice,” Schenn said. “Then when you do all that, you let your skill come out naturally. You don't worry about making plays and worry about your skill first, you worry about all the other details of a hockey game that enable these guys' skill to come out.”

‘Schenner’s The X Factor’

From the start of training camp, Schenn saw the talent the two former first-round picks possessed. He recognized he’d be the guy to take the pair under his wing when Head Coach Pete DeBoer put Ritchie and Eklund on his line.

DeBoer said he placed Schenn on the left with Ritchie down the middle and Eklund on the right side because of Schenn’s veteran leadership.

“It’s a great combination,” DeBoer said. “When you throw line combinations together, you cross your fingers and hope they work. Part of the thinking there was just to have a veteran presence with those young kids to keep them in a good spot mentally, to stay positive with them, to keep promoting playing the right way like Schenner does. There’s a reason he's a Stanley Cup champion so and thankfully it's worked so far.”

The line has already molded its identity and understands the way they have to play in the offensive end. That identity is comprised of a tenacious, collective forecheck that makes things difficult on opposing defensemen to break pucks out.  

That was evident on Ritchie’s goal against the Rangers on Oct. 6, as Schenn allowed Eklund to chase after his dump in. Eklund laid a hit on the Rangers defenseman and Schenn was there to support as he excavated the puck from the corner and found a wide-open Ritchie who waited out Igor Shesterkin for the goal.

They rank 26^th in the league in expected goals percentage at 54.1% at 5-on-5 according to Money Puck (among lines that have played a minimum of 36 minutes together).

According to Natural Stat Trick, they’ve generated 15 scoring chances, nine high-danger chances and three goals together 5-on-5. They have the second-most chances of any Islanders line with a 4.75 Goals For per 60 minutes rate.

DeBoer’s been pleased with the way the line has generated offensive opportunities off the forecheck as all three play with a high compete level. DeBoer said he’s been comfortable giving Eklund and Ritchie more responsibility in different situations because of Schenn and his ability to show them how to play responsibly.

“We’ve thrown a lot at them,” DeBoer said of Ritchie and Eklund. “Eky [Eklund] played one NHL game coming into this year and is playing in the top nine and playing on the power play, so there's a lot of detail. Rich [Ritchie] is probably even more detailed because he's a centerman and face-offs and responsibilities down low.

“There's a lot on those two kids' plates, and it shows you that they're special players. They seem to have some chemistry together, and I think Schenner's the X factor there. When you can put a veteran like that there, Schenner's a communicator, he's a talker, he's easy to talk to. I'm sure he's been very helpful talking those guys through those situations.”

What Ritchie and Eklund Have Learned from Schenn

With young players like Ritchie and Eklund, there’s a natural learning curve that comes with understanding how to play at the NHL level.

Schenn has been there to help with that transition, especially for Eklund who’s in his rookie season with just six games played.  

Schenn – who is tied for the team lead with 14 hits – said he’s been impressed with Eklund’s fearlessness on the forecheck and in wall battles and is unfazed despite his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame.

Eklund said Schenn’s helped him  make more effective zone entries and when to make smart changes so he’s not stuck on the ice or creates an odd-man rush.

“Just simple [things] like being careful of the blue lines and end of shifts,” Eklund said. "Just smart things to think about when you are young and a lot of things outside too, he helped me. He’s a great guy.”

As for Ritchie, he’s often seen with many of the Isles older players including Schenn, Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas.

That’s intentionally done by design and Ritchie said, “it’s a really good situation coming into the league.” He noted that being around a veteran-led group is going to allow his game to flourish and said that he’s constantly asking Schenn questions.

“It helps a lot,” Ritchie said of having Schenn’s experience as a resource. “Obviously on the ice shift to shift it helps a ton, and then just after shifts, you learn a lot from him... Especially for me and Eky as young guys going in the league. Just always asking questions with him helps us a lot for sure.”

While the lines can change over the course of the season, Schenn’s enjoying playing alongside the two kids who are learning from one of the NHL’s most consistent players with eight 20-goal seasons and eight 50-point years.

Inversely, the youngsters have reminded Schenn about the value of keeping things loose and light during a physically demanding season.

“What they teach you is when you come to the rink every day and every day at the rink, it's a good time,” Schenn said. “We have fun with each other. We communicate in practice. Eky [Eklund] he's pretty funny. He doesn't say a lot, but when he does, it's pretty witty and has a good sense of humor and a good personality with him.

“Rich [Ritchie] has gravitated towards some of the older guys in the locker room, and that shows that guys like being around him, guys like having fun with him... the age gap obviously is a little bit but when you come to the rink, you just show and you have fun with each other and enjoy trying to get better day-by-day.”