TSN hockey reporter Frank Seravalli reported today that two teams have contacted Detroit about forward Luke Glendening, specifically Dallas and Toronto:
Sounds like #Leafs and #Stars among teams who have inquired with #RedWings on C Luke Glendening. He would be a nice fit for TOR, played for Babcock in DET, but Wings aren’t going to give him away.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) February 16, 2018
If they are interested, then this is a trade that should absolutely be made. Glendening is a player with a top-notch work ethic, and there is some value in that for the younger players to be around. But he’s a replaceable part of the bottom line, and if you can get value for that type of player, you take it.
The biggest reason is that he still has 3 years left on his contract after this season. Yes, it’s only at $1.8M per season, but it’s bad roster management to give a four year contract to a fourth line player. And yes, there are absolutely contracts on the team that are much worse.
But just because it’s not among the worst contracts on the team, doesn’t mean there isn’t value in offloading it. Give that space to a young player and see what they can do, and every dollar saved is another dollar that can be allocated to signing our young players this offseason. If there’s a trade to be made here, it should absolutely be done.
