The play of defenseman Luke Schenn last season was one of the few bright spots for a massively disappointing Philadelphia Flyers club in the lockout-shortened season. This season: Well, the Flyers are off to another terrible start and Schenn has been part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Yesterday in New Jersey, Craig Berube sent a message to Schenn by making him a healthy scratch. For the season, his average ice time is down from last year's average of 21:51 to an average of 15:36.

What got Schenn in the doghouse? It appears that he was one on the players that Berube (who has heavily emphasized skating since taking over from Peter Laviolette) was referring to when he said there were some players who had come to camp in good muscular shape but poor skating shape. Even before he got removed from the lineup, Schenn voluntarily took extra skating after practice, which is unusual for a non-rehabbing or non-scratched player to do. Unfortunately, Schenn's on-ice play has still not come around yet to where he or the team wants it to be.

Nevertheless, I found out today that there are clubs -- Dallas is one and another Western Conference club -- who have some interest in the big, physical defenseman. The source said that "although the optics of trading Schenn after acquiring him for JVR would look terrible" and the Flyers still have Luke's brother, Brayden, on the club, "the team is worried first and foremost about improving the team, regardless of the outside optics." That makes sense, because the Flyers have never cared what anyone outside the organization thinks.

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