Luke Schenn thought he might be done.

After establishing himself as a trusted, reliable NHL defenseman who had only ever known professional games in the top League in the world for 10 seasons, his career took a turn.

A veteran of over 700 contests played already by the time the fall of 2018 came around, Schenn suddenly found himself riding the bus in the minors.

“There were a lot of thoughts that cross your mind, if it’s ever going to be a reality, to let alone play 1,000 games, but even play one more game [in the NHL],” Schenn said. “The thought process was to try to get better with age.”

Schenn did just that, and now, those times of uncertainty seem like distant memories.

On Thursday night in Nashville, the 34-year-old Saskatoon native will skate in his 1,000th NHL game, a feat accomplished only by five percent of those who have ever appeared in the League.

He’s played for eight NHL teams – including two stints with Toronto, the club that drafted him, and another two stops in Vancouver – and his 3,368 career hits put him atop the record books for defensemen in League history.

The fifth overall selection in the 2008 NHL Draft – the same year Preds forward Steven Stamkos was taken first overall by Tampa Bay – Schenn immediately broke into the League with the Maple Leafs as an 18-year-old and only played NHL games for the first decade of his career.

Then, in 2018, he found himself in the American Hockey League for the first time ever as a member of the Anaheim Ducks organization.

“I was living in Newport Beach and commuting every day to San Diego, back and forth, which is a couple hours each way, just because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be up or down,” Schenn said. “I had a lot of conversations in the car with my brother [St. Louis Blues Captain, Brayden] and my dad.”

As Schenn wracked up the minutes on his cellular plan, his belief he could get back to the NHL was shaken at times, but he never gave up hope.

When he was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks later that season, the same thing happened. But, he worked with former NHL star, and noted skills coach, Adam Oates, to get back on track.

Better with age, right?

After signing with Tampa Bay in the summer of 2019, Schenn was on the bubble once more. But this time, after going back and forth with their AHL affiliate in Syracuse, New York, he got called up by the Bolts for the final time and never looked back.

He won his first Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 before going back-to-back and capturing another Cup the next spring in Tampa.

Since then, Schenn played two more seasons in Vancouver – with a postseason stop back in Toronto in 2023 – before inking a three-year deal with Nashville in July of that year. Now in his second campaign with the Preds, Schenn has not played another AHL game since early 2020, a tremendous turnaround for a blueliner who knows nothing is guaranteed.

And now, on the eve of game No. 1,000, he can’t help but be grateful.

“When I got drafted in Toronto and started as an 18-year-old in 2008, I always dreamt of having a long career, but I certainly wouldn’t have believed you if you would have told me the journey,” Schenn reflected. “It’s been a roller coaster. At the end of the day, the number of the milestone is something to be proud of. But, more so than anything, just continuing to find a way to stick with it in some challenging times is what I’ve been most proud of.”

That feeling is reciprocated throughout the Predators organization. One trip around the Nashville locker room, and the impact Schenn has had on this group becomes clear.

“He’s a glue guy,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said of Schenn. “He’s a guy that everybody kind of looks up to as a big brother. He’s seen it all in his career, and it’s the gold standard to hit 1,000 games – and he didn’t do it the easy way… It’s a real proud moment for him and his family to get to that number.”

Thanks to his numerous stops around the League, coupled with his likability and easygoing personality, Schenn has had no trouble making friends over the past 15 years.

“I joke around about [the fact that as] many teams I played on, I’ve got more friends and teammates than anyone,” Schenn laughed. “But in saying that, the group of guys in the room here in Nashville is real special.”

And there aren’t many players more popular than Schenn in NHL circles and beyond. Just ask his Nashville teammates.

“He’s an unbelievable person,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “I think you talk to all the guys around the League, everybody knows Schenner, and everybody loves being around Schenner. To reach 1,000 games, it’s just really impressive. And just the way he plays, too. I mean, he’s got the most hits ever as D-man, which takes a toll on you physically in 1,000 games. It’s incredible. I’m just really happy for him and really inspired by the way he did it. And that’s the kind of guy you want to have on your team.”

Josi, also a member of the 2008 NHL Draft class, says even though he and Schenn are the same age, there’s still plenty to glean from the journeyman. Plus, Schenn is simply a guy the Preds love having around, not to mention his penchant for being plugged in with what’s happening across the League.

“He’s a very funny guy, and guys love being around him,” Josi said of Schenn. “You need information about anything, he’s always got it. You always ask Schenner for anything, and he knows everything before everyone else does. He knows what’s going on around the League, and he’s always in charge of [our] dinners, he always picks the menu, he loves his tomahawk steaks; he’s just a great guy to be around.”

“We have a few nicknames for him – ‘Scoops’ [is one] – and he’s got all the news and the ins and outs of everything [around the League],” Stamkos said. “He’s just a really smart guy. He’s got his priorities figured out in terms of being a great father and husband and just a pro. We know what he does on the ice, but he’s just as good a person off the ice. I’m just really, really happy for him.”

For Predators forward Luke Evangelista, sharing a locker room with Schenn has been a surreal experience. Born in Toronto in 2002, Evangelista was just 6 years old when Schenn joined the Maple Leafs. And the young hockey fan’s first-ever jersey? A blue Toronto sweater with Schenn’s name and number on the back.

“He was my favorite player growing up,” Evangelista said. “And now, I get to share a locker room with him, and I get to go over to his house for dinner and play mini sticks with him and the kids. It’s something that I remember calling my mom and telling her, like, ‘If you told 6-year-old me that I’d be teammates with Luke Schenn and playing mini sticks with him, I wouldn’t believe it. So, from my point of view, it’s pretty special.”

Evangelista has heard the phrase, “Don’t meet your idols,” but even he couldn’t have imagined how far from the truth that saying has been rendered with Schenn around.

“I can’t say enough good things about him as a teammate,” Evangelista said. “Even with the age gap, he’s one of the guys I’m closest with on the team. He’s made everyone feel super welcome. He’s a loud voice in the room and someone that we lean on in the room. That’s one of those traits that you don’t see on the scoresheet or anything, but he’s an awesome teammate.”

Stamkos saw those qualities firsthand not only when he and Schenn were winning Cups together in Tampa, but also as teenagers playing for Team Canada. When it became clear over the summer the now-former Lightning captain would not be signing another contract with the only NHL club he had ever known, he looked to Schenn, and the opportunity to reunite once more was enticing, to say the least.

“He was one of the reasons why, at the end of the day, I decided to come here,” Stamkos said of Schenn’s influence to sign with the Preds. “We’ve talked about [our time in Tampa] a lot and trying to chase another [Cup] here, but we’ve gone through a lot of great times. We’ve been on Team Canada together, we’ve obviously won Stanley Cups together, and when you get to go through those milestones with someone that you’ve known for a long time, and to see our families grow up too, the kids becoming buddies, it’s a pretty cool experience. I’m honored that I get a chance to be with him for [his 1,000th game].”

Schenn’s time on the ice isn’t done yet, but he knows he’s on the backside of his career. A husband and father of three, Schenn is grateful for the moments he’s had in the game, and those that are still to come, especially after the adversity he faced to reach this point.

He’s experienced the highest of highs the game has to offer, and he knows what the lows look like, too. But, he’s better off for all of it, and now, with those he loves most set to be in town for the milestone, Schenn couldn’t be more thankful for the experience.

“I’m proud of the longevity, and I think the biggest thing, too, is to have lots of family and friends to be in town to help experience it with me,” Schenn said. “I just have a great support system of family and friends, and they’re all going to be here tomorrow and Saturday. I’m just proud I get to celebrate with all of them.”

That unwelcome sense of finality five years ago is now long gone. And instead of the unknowns of a life in the minor leagues, Schenn is once again focused on a larger goal with his NHL teammates.

He’d love nothing more than another run at the ultimate prize – and, of course, to keep getting better with age.

“The ultimate goal is to try to win here,” Schenn said. “We’re obviously not off to a great start, but at the end of the day, that’s why you play the game. No other reason than that.

“That’s one thing we do have here is a heck of a room. We’re in a little bit of a skid here right now, but I put our character and our group of guys up against anyone. So, that’s why we’re optimistic, and we’re going to get out of it. But we have a heck of a group in here, and there’s no one else you’d rather be in the room with and and going at it with here in tough stretches, good stretches; that’s what makes the journey the journey.”