Detroit Red Wings: 5 players likely on the move at the Trade Deadline

Luke Glendening

This might be the year Luke Glendening gets moved.  It seems year after year we’re expecting the veteran centerman to be packing his bags, but year-after-year he’s wearing that winged-wheel post NHL trade deadline.

Glendening is stellar in the faceoff circle, winning a career-high 63.8% of his draws.  That alone should have a plethora of playoff-bound teams interested in his services.

It seems surreal that the former Michigan Wolverine forward is near 32-year old.  Where does the time go?

Glendening has played up and down the Detroit Red Wings lineup, but that’s mostly due to a lackluster group of forwards.  He does have the ability to slide to the wing after taking a faceoff that he usually wins, which does display some versatility teams looking for a fourth-line penalty-killing forward will be seeking.

Glendening is a pending free agent that carries a cap hit of $1.8 million, most of which will already be paid by the Detroit Red Wings.

The veteran forward averages nearly 14 and a half minutes of ice-time per game plus has the potential to chip in offensively from time-to-time.  So far in 2021, Glendening has amassed nine points in 30 games but has only scored three times.

I’m impartial when it comes to Glendening’s future with the Red Wings.

I believe there is a role for a player like Glendening but won’t be hurt if he’s traded for future assets.  It’s a no-brainer if Detroit can land a second or third-round pick for his services.  Earlier in the year, there had been some talk of Yzerman possibly finding a way to land a first-round pick for the alternate captain, but I don’t see that happening.

My problem over the years with the Red Wings roster hasn’t been Glendening in particular, but having far too many Glendening-type players.  No NHL team in 2021 requires two full lines of grinding forward with limited scoring ability.