Well that didn’t take long. The New York Rangers signed veteran center Luke Glendening to a one-year standard NHL contract on Thursday. That was just three days after the Rangers brought Glendening in on a professional tryout contract (PTO).
Guess the Rangers liked what they saw. Glendening practiced with the Rangers on Wednesday and took part in the morning skate Thursday ahead of their game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Per rules in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, a team has 10 days to decide whether to sign a player to a standard contract after he agrees to an in-season PTO.
But the Rangers didn’t need to see more from the 37-year-old, who reportedly will earn a pro-rated $850,000 — the League minimum — this season. It’s expected that Glendening will slide into the lineup as the fourth-line center.
Welcome to the team 👋
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 22, 2026
We've agreed to terms with forward Luke Glendening on a one-year contract → https://t.co/03sdOSbmRrpic.twitter.com/LMO5wL6ylO
“Luke obviously has a significant body of work in the League and the type of player that he is. He’s a reliable, conscientious player. Kills penalties. Really good in the face-off circle. He built a career on that element of his game and prides himself on that,” coach Mike Sullivan said Monday. “Obviously, we’ve got a little bit of a challenge with respect to depth of the center position. I think Chris [Drury] and his guys thought that we bring him in and see if potentially he could help us.”
A longer-term vacancy was created on the fourth line, when center Joe Veleno sustained a lower-body injury in the fourth game of the season on Oct. 4 against the Utah Mammoth. Veleno’s expected to be out at least three months.
The Rangers first tried to fill the void with 20-year-old rookie Cole Beaudoin, who played his first four NHL games after being recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League. When the Rangers opted to send Beaudoin back to the minors, they recalled 36-year-old Justin Dowling, who’s been a placeholder as the 4C for three games heading into the Original Six clash against the Maple Leafs.
Dowling might be a bit younger than Glendening, but the newly-signed pivot has a more distinguished resume. Where Dowling largely has been a minor leaguer in his career, with 157 games of NHL experience sprinkled in, Glendening’s been an NHL regular for 13 seasons, playing 934 games for five teams.
Glendening is a reliable bottom-sis player, though not much of a scoring threat. He has 85 goals and 90 assists in his career, but is known more for his defensive play and ability to consistently win face-offs. He won 57.2 percent of his draws over 18 games with the Philadelphia Flyers last season, taking most of his face-offs in the defensive and neutral zones both at even strength and on the penalty kill. In his career, Glendening has won 55.6 percent of his face-offs.
He split last season between the Flyers and New Jersey Devils, playing 70 regular-season games in total, and 10 more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Flyers.
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