The Detroit Red Wings announced on Thursday the signing of forward Luke Glendening to a four-year contract extension.
UPDATE: The #RedWings today signed C Luke Glendening to a four-year contract extension: https://t.co/ymwjTJivwg ???? pic.twitter.com/BhjjuJH1iN
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) July 14, 2016
Glendening still has one year left on his current contract, carrying a $628,333 salary cap hit.
Of course, no financial terms were announced, because team policy is to leak that information to only certain people, so they can tell the rest of the world.
This deal annoys me. Keep locking up bottom-six forwards long-term, Kenny. The replaceable guys. As much as I hate the Steve Ott signing, these are the people you can grab every year if your guy walks. There is no reason to give four years to Luke Glendening. None.
Ansar Khan, who still has me blocked on Twitter, says the new deal carries a cap hit of $1.8 million. I hate it now.
Update, 11:45 AM: Michael Petrella, formerly of The Production Line, had this to add…
Why on Earth would anyone extend anyone beyond the expansion draft if they didn’t absolutely have to?
— Michael Petrella (@mpetrella) July 14, 2016
The timing of this extension is particularly bad because it means that the Red Wings are virtually required to protect Glendening in the expansion draft. Were he going to be a free agent next summer, they could have left him unprotected and used his spot on someone else.
Of course, there’s the cynical thought that the Wings could leave him unprotected knowing that they paid him too much and Las Vegas won’t want to pick up that contract. I don’t think Ken Holland thinks that way, though.
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Sorry I have to disagree with you. Luke has to be one of the hardest working guys on the team and he plays a roll that’s more than just “bottom six forward.” He’s never going to be a top goal scorer, but I breathe a little easier when he’s out there killing penalties. Pucks don’t get by Luke easily. He’s also the guy that’s right where he’s supposed to be every time we are in the offensive zone, and he’s getting damn good at faceoffs. Has anyone ever noticed the leadership he brings to the team too? With Datsyuk gone and Zetterberg getting older, we need guys like Luke who can keep their composure on ice and maintain that relentless pressure on the other team. You don’t just find guys like Luke Glendening every day. He’s a great asset and I’m glad he’ll be be with us long-term.
And, as the fancy-stats guys like to say, he’s a possession black hole. His stats are those of a replacement player, which you literally can find every day. It’s exactly the kind of player you don’t sign long-term.
He is good at faceoffs, though. I’ll give him that. I just wouldn’t give him four years and $1.8 million for it.
Puck possession is something the whole team needs to get better at in my opinion…which would probably happen if Blashill stops messing with the lines so much. I just think you’d be hard pressed to find a player that can play both sides of the ice as well as Luke does. We can agree to disagree about whether he’s worth it. The next few years will be interesting to see how the players grow.