ST. LOUIS — It was June 23, 2017, when the trade with the Flyers that sent Brayden Schenn to St. Louis was consummated, on draft night in Chicago to be exact.
The Blues acquired Schenn from the Flyers for two first-round picks in 2017 and 2018, with which the Flyers drafted Morgan Frost with the 27th pick in 2017 and Joel Farabee with the 14th pick in 2018 along with Jori Lehtera.
Needless to say, things have worked out tremendously for Schenn, who got the top-line role here that he was seeking in Philadelphia, won a Stanley Cup and signed an eight-year, $52 million extension during training camp.
"I'm very happy here," Schenn said. "Very happy to be part of this organization. I think what they've built in this room with the culture, whether it's guys like Steener or Petro or Vladi or the list of guys that have been here for a long time, they've built a heck of a culture here and winning culture. It's fun to be part of.
"[Former Blues coach and current Flyers assistant Mike Yeo] gave me the opportunity since day one to try and be a top player here for St. Louis and put me with good players. Very thankful for that and very thankful for the opportunity I've been given since day one here."
So does it mean something to face the former teammates?
"There's meaning, no doubt about it," Schenn said. "It's always fun playing friends and former teammates, but it's been three years now and I enjoy playing in St. Louis. I don't really think about Philadelphia too much anymore. ... I don't really worry about the trade and stuff like that too much anymore. A lot of guys get traded throughout their career and I happened to be a part of that one."
A couple of former Blues will be in the Flyers lineup tonight. Goalie Brian Elliott, who holds the franchise record with the Blues for shutouts with 25, and forward Chris Stewart will be in the lineup.
Stewart was placed on waivers but will be in the lineup since the Flyers had to load Farabee to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League to recall goalie Alex Lyon. Lyon comes in under emergency conditions because Carter Hart sustained an abdominal strain in practice Tuesday.
Stewart, who spent four seasons here from 2010-14, cheered for many of his former Blues teammates last summer on their journey to win the Cup.
"I still got a lot of good friends on that team," Stewart said. "I think I put something on Twitter how this is a great city, a great place to play and a lot of people behind the scenes who deserve the recognition. I was happy to see that they got their chance to raise the Cup and I was proud of them."
Stewart was teammates with Pietrangelo, Jake Allen, Jaden Schwartz, Jay Bouwmeester, Alexander Steen, David Perron and Vladimir Tarasenko.
"I was watching every game," Stewart said. "It's the best hockey of the year and the most exciting time and that's what you dream about is winning. It was good to see them get it.
"I was at [Kevin] Shattenkirk's wedding and there was probably 13 (former Blues teammates) there. It's a tight-knit group over there and I'm happy for them."
After a year out of the NHL, Stewart found himself back in the league with the Flyers after a professional tryout. He has one assist in 15 games.
The Blues' projected lineup:
Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Oskar Sundqvist
Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron
Alexander Steen-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak
Mackenzie MacEachern-Jacob de la Rose-Ivan Barbashev
Vince Dunn-Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester-Justin Faulk
Niko Mikkola-Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Jake Allen will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Carl Gunnarsson, Troy Brouwer and Jordan Kyrou. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Colton Parayko (upper body) and Sammy Blais (wrist) are out.
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The Flyers' projected lineup:
Claude Giroux-Kevin Hayes-Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl-Sean Couturier-Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk-Scott Laughton-Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Tyler Pitlick-Connor Bunnaman-Chris Stewart
Ivan Provorov-Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim-Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg-Mark Friedman
Brian Elliott will start in goal; Alex Lyon will be the backup.
The Flyers report no healthy scratches. Carter Hart (abdominal strain), Nolan Patrick (migraine), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma), Justin Braun (groin) and Shayne Gostisbehere (knee) are out.
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