Rangers Sign Luke Glendening To Professional Tryout

The New York Rangers announced that they have signed forward Luke Glendening to a PTO.

This marks the second PTO for Glendening this season, as he was previously on one with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Back in late September, however, the Bolts released him from that deal. As a reminder, players are only eligible to play pre-season games with their respective clubs under a PTO. Glendening won’t be eligible to play regular-season games with the Rangers as he must sign a standard contract.

The 37-year-old is a veteran of 934 NHL games, most recently playing for the Philadelphia Flyers. Glendening split 2025-26 between the Flyers and the New Jersey Devils, scoring two goals and nine points in 70 games; an appearance threshold he has reached over the past five seasons. In Philadelphia, he averaged 12:22 time on ice per game and played two minutes per game on the penalty kill, all while winning 57.2% of his draws.

This could be a solid addition for the Rangers in their bottom-six, who require a veteran presence among their forwards with less ice time. They recently recalled forward Taylor Raddysh to help in that regard on the wing, a player who is known for his penalty killing and defensive awareness. Glendening shares the same quality attributes, and if proven, could win the role over Justin Dowling, who has been playing in place of the injured Joe Veleno, a player New York inked this summer on a one-year, $1.2MM contract to play that role but was placed on LTIR.

While there is minimal offense that Glendening is able to provide, his game in Philadelphia demonstrated his reliability as a defensive fourth-line center, bringing needed skill at the faceoff dot. Glendening averaged nearly 14:00 time on ice per game in the playoffs, helping the Flyers defeat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the first round of the postseason.

Glendening has been a ballot Selke Trophy consideration earlier in his career and remains a regular penalty killer. While he’s no guarantee to make the Rangers roster and earn a full contract, he has a decent chance given the injuries and inconsistency New York has seen in the depths of its forward group. Veleno being absent leaves an opportunity that Glendening will get the chance to show he can be the one to fill it. The Rangers boast the league’s second-best penalty kill, stopping 93.5% of oppossing power-play’s so far this year. Glendening making the team will certainly add to that mark. Amid their current injuries, New York has around $4.4MM in cap space, more than enough to provide a contract if Glendening makes the team.