Canucks vs Predators: Tyler Myers, Luke Schenn put friendship on hold

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Luke Schenn’s scouting report on Tyler Myers goes back 18 years.

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The veteran, right-shot defensemen have been on opposite sides in the first round of the NHL playoffs this week, with Myers’ Vancouver Canucks facing off with Schenn’s Nashville Predators. In February 2006, they were on the same team and living in the same house.

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Myers was in his 15-year-old season and was a midseason call-up by the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets from Notre Dame, the hockey academy in Wilcox, Sask.

He billeted then with the Kelowna family that had already taken in Schenn, who was in his 16-year-old campaign on the Rockets’ blue line.

“He was very quiet, very shy,” Schenn, 34, recalled. “He wouldn’t leave his room a lot of the time. It took a lot of convincing to get him out to hang with the boys.”

Schenn and Myers went on to become standouts for the Rockets and then first-round picks in the 2008 NHL Draft, with Schenn going No. 5 overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Myers selected No. 12 overall by the Buffalo Sabres, two choices after the Canucks took center Cody Hodgson.

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Schenn and Myers are eighth and ninth, respectively, in regular season games played from that draft class, with Schenn at 996 and Myers right on his tail at 995.

They were teammates again for a time, thanks to Schenn’s season and a half pitstop with the Canucks that ended when he was dealt to the Maple Leafs in February 2023.

They have remained friends and, in what’s become standard operating policy in the playoffs, they have put interaction on hold for this showdown between their teams.

“We had a little text beforehand saying that we’ll shake hands after the series and talk then,” Schenn explained. “It’s a similar situation I had last year, playing with Toronto against Tampa and former teammates. I had good friends over there. You cut off lines of communication during the series and then pick up where you left off after that.”

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Myers, 34, is one of nine pending unrestricted free agents with the Canucks, with the five-year deal featuring a $6-million salary cap he signed as a free agent in July 2019 for then-general manager Jim Benning coming to an end.

He has taken hits from the media and the fan base over the years when things weren’t going right for him or the teams. That said, Myers is certainly among that large group of Canucks who have had a strong season so far this year. He’s been steady and staunch.

Myers had five goals and 29 points, to go with a plus-16 rating, in 77 regular season games. He averaged 18 minutes, 56 seconds of ice time. That was down from 20:54 the previous season.

He missed a game in these playoffs against Nashville, reportedly because of illness. Going into Tuesday, he was third on the team in ice time per game against the Predators (20:33), trailing only defenseman Quinn Hughes and center JT Miller.

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“He’s a very gifted skater, especially for how big he is,” Schenn said. “He’s a pro. He takes care of his body. And he competes every night. He’s played a lot of big minutes, too. He’s a tough guy to play against and he’s had a heck of a career.”

The 6-foot-8, 229-pound Myers has been teaming with the 6-foot-5, 208-pound Carson Soucy on the Vancouver blue line of late, and with their combined wingspan they’re “able to cover quite a bit of ice even just standing still,” Myers quipped.

“We want to use it to our advantage,” Myers continued. “When we’re both using our stick well, it makes it tough for the other team. I think we’re both playing a good physical game, too. We want to keep the mindset of defending hard and getting the puck up quickly and just staying consistent.

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“We’ve talked to each other a lot off the ice to make sure we’re focused on the right things going into a game.”

Schenn signed a three-year deal with the Predators with a cap hit of $2.75 million last July.

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