The Rangers have been scrambling for answers all over the roster this season, and the center depth has taken one of the biggest hits.
With Igor Shesterkin and Joonas Korpisalo both on injured reserve, New York is already stretched in goal. Korpisalo is expected back in a few weeks, but Shesterkin will miss the rest of the season, leaving Dylan Garand in a No. 1 role while the team searches for help.
Up front, the trouble has been just as real. Joe Veleno, the team’s No. 4 center, went down with a lower-body injury on Oct. 4 and was in a lot of pain. The injury is expected to keep him out for about three months, and since then head coach Mike Sullivan has been juggling line combinations and leaning on Cole Beaudoin and Justin Dowling in that spot.
That opened the door for Luke Glendening, who signed a professional tryout contract on Monday. There’s a clear reason the Rangers are taking a look: his game matches the role they need filled.
“Luke obviously has a significant body of work in the league,” Sullivan said, via Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic.
“The type of player that he is, he’s been a real reliable, conscientious player. … He built a career on that element of his game and prides himself on that.
Obviously, we’ve got a little bit of challenge with respect to depth at the center position, and I think Chris and his guys thought that we’d bring him in and see if potentially he could help us.”
Glendening isn’t coming in to solve anything offensively, and neither was Veleno. The veteran’s career high is 23 points, set in 2018-19, and at 37 years old, he’s had single-digit scoring in three of the last four seasons. That part of the game is not the draw.
What Glendening does bring is the same kind of utility Veleno offered before the injury: clean work in the bottom six, dependable shifts, and the sort of details that keep a lineup steady. He’s a strong penalty killer, and the Rangers have been elite in that area so far in 2026-27.
His track record in the faceoff circle is another calling card. Glendening has won 55.6% of his draws over his career, giving Sullivan another center who can help control the puck at the start of shifts.
He also helps replace the speed element Veleno brought to the lineup. Sullivan wanted the team to get faster, and Glendening fits that idea well, ranking in the 92nd percentile for max skating speed.
This isn’t the kind of move that turns heads, but it is the kind that can stabilize a lineup. Glendening checks the boxes Sullivan wants from a No. 4 center, and that alone makes him a strong fit for New York.
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