Devils sign Luke Glendening to one-year contract
The New Jersey Devils have agreed to terms with center Luke Glendening on a one-year, one-way contract, the club announced Tuesday afternoon.
Glendening, 36, had been attending Devils training camp on a professional tryout basis. His new contract for the 2025-26 season carries a $775,000 NHL cap hit and will see him be paid the same amount in the AHL.
A 12-year NHL veteran, Glendening spent the last two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 5’11” pivot skated in 77 games with the Lightning during the 2024-25 season, recording four goals and seven points; he added a goal and an assist in five playoff contests.
With the Devils losing center Kevin Rooney, also in camp on a PTO, to the Utah Mammoth on Monday, they have now moved to retain Glendening for at least the upcoming season. The Grand Rapids, Michigan product appeared in six pre-season games with the Devils, collecting two points.
One Luke wasn’t enough. We had to double down.
📰: https://t.co/cLdNYQaUIs pic.twitter.com/4CMzwmVodm
An undrafted player, Glendening spent four seasons at the University of Michigan before turning pro in 2012. He won the Calder Cup with his hometown Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL in 2012-13 before making his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings the following year.
Glendening spent eight seasons with the Red Wings to begin his NHL career, becoming a favorite of head coaches Mike Babcock and Jeff Blashill for his relentless effort and strong faceoff ability. He has won more than 50 percent of his draws in each of the last 11 seasons and even exceeded 60 percent in 2020-21, his final year in Detroit.
The Dallas Stars signed Glendening as an unrestricted free agent in 2021 and he spent two seasons there before joining the Lightning in 2023. He tallied 10 goals with the Bolts in 2023-24 but has generally been one of the NHL’s lowest-scoring regular forwards on a per-60 basis over the past three seasons.
In 864 career games over his career with the Red Wings, Stars, and Lightning, Glendening has collected 83 goals, 166 points, and 308 penalty minutes to go along with a minus-84 rating and a 55.8 percent faceoff win rate. He’s added six goals and 10 points in 50 playoff contests split between the three teams.