Rangers Sign 934-Game Veteran After Center Injury
Glendening is 37, has played 934 NHL games with Detroit, Dallas, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, and has 85 goals and 175 points.
A Tryout, Not A Contract
Glendening can’t play a game for the Rangers unless he signs a standard contract, and an in-season tryout can last a maximum of 10 days under the CBA.
If another team offers him a contract during that window, the Rangers have the right of first refusal and 48 hours to match it.
The Rangers have signed forward Luke Glendening to a professional tryout agreement (PTO).
— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) October 19, 2026
The league minimum is $850,000 this season, and the Rangers have about $4.4 million in cap space.
This is Glendening’s second tryout of the year, since he attended Tampa Bay’s camp on a tryout on September 16 and was released before the season started.
New York’s top three centers are Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Noah Laba, with Justin Dowling filling the fourth-line spot, and the Rangers have used three different centers there to start the season.
What He Brings
Glendening signed with Detroit as an undrafted free agent in 2013, spent eight seasons there, and has been a regular penalty killer who earned Selke Trophy consideration earlier in his career.
Last season, he had four assists in 52 games with New Jersey before the Devils waived him in March, then one goal and five points in 18 games after Philadelphia claimed him, which totals nine points in 70 games.
Luke Glendening (PTO) is here with #NYR wearing No. 43 https://t.co/Geltz8y9aq
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) October 19, 2026
He won 57.2 percent of his faceoffs with the Flyers, and he played in Philadelphia’s six-game first-round win over Pittsburgh in the 2026 playoffs.
Veleno, 26, signed with the Rangers this summer on a one-year, $1.2 million contract and was off to a solid start as a penalty killer before he went down, and he’s now on long-term injured reserve.
