Luke Glendening was not here for a long time, but was certainly here for a good time.
When the Philadelphia Flyers claimed the veteran center off of waivers on March 6, the same day as the trade deadline as rumors were swirling and some deals were being made around the league, it was expected for him to just be the replacement for Nic Deslauriers, who was traded to the Hurricanes earlier in the day. But for some reason, things just clicked on the ice.
It was almost immediate — as soon as Glendening joined the team, the Flyers just started winning hockey games and that ultimately pushed them into the playoffs. Obviously, it is not the only reason since adding two other forwards named Tyson Foerster and Porter Martone certainly helped, but with the Flyers going 12-5-1 with Glendening in the lineup, he at least deserves some credit.
And just how did he contribute? Well, it wasn’t scoring a boatload of points or anything.
| Games played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | Shots on goal | Shooting percentage | Average TOI |
| 18 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 10 | 12:23 |
While two goals and five points in the 18 games he did play, isn’t mind-blowing or anything, but it is still a big increase of production for Glendening compared to his other stops. The 37-year-old earned four points in 52 games for the Devils this season, which led to him being waived. And even the year prior, it was just seven points in 77 games with the Lightning. For some reason, it just clicked with Glendening in Philadelphia.
When he did score, it was just being smart and in position.
Nothing fancy, just working the game in the right way. And those smarts led him to outperforming some of his underlying numbers.
| (5v5) Goals For % | Expected Goals For % | Corsi For % | High-Danger Attempts For % | PDO |
| 66.67 | 49.48 | 42.57 | 52.17 | 107.0 |
The Flyers weren’t dominant with Glendening on the ice, since they still allowed more chances than they had and earned just a slight advantage in terms of high-danger attempts, but considering that some percentages were going wacky and he had a PDO of 107, his play managed to look a whole lot better than it was on the whole.
| (5v5) Points per 60 | Primary Points per 60 | Shots on goal per 60 | Shot attempts per 60 | Expected goals per 60 |
| 1.66 | 1.34 | 6.65 | 10.31 | 1.05 |
Glendening wasn’t playing all that much so of course the rate statistics look a little abnormal. For context, it’s not some NHL-leading numbers but 1.66 points per game was in the upper-third of NHL players this season and was more than forwards like Brayden Schenn, Conor Garland, Jonathan Huberdeau, Will Cuylle, and Kiefer Sherwood. No offense to Glendening, but those guys are just a little more skilled than the 37-year-old version of him.
Did Glendening live up to expectations?
The thing with Glendening is that there were zero expectations when he was claimed off of waivers by the Flyers at the trade deadline. It helped that it was a surprise, but all anyone in this fan base knew of him was that he is career fourth-line player that has been on very good Red Wings teams, but that’s about it. One of the old, gritty veterans around the league.
So when he played that first week and was part of that fourth line with Sean Couturier and Garnet Hathaway that would happily run down their opposition in the most efficient way possible every single shift, it was surprising. Glendening played the part of the right-handed forward that would take the faceoffs that Couturier could not and even had some scoring chops to go along with it.
He was certainly an upgrade from what we were seeing — maybe not in overall talent but just in being able to gel with fellow veterans so easily and know when to try and score and when to just try and punish. Almost a near-perfect role player that certainly exceeded expectations.
What can we expect from Glendening next season?
Glendening is an unrestricted free agent and it does feel that he is unlikely to come back to Philadelphia, even if he is saying how much he’s open to being re-signed. There are already too many forwards when everyone is healthy, so bringing one back to just keep up that logjam is not that feasible.
Now, if Danny Briere trades a couple forwards before July 1 as he addresses somewhere else on the roster, like the blue line, and they could use someone like Glendening to supplement the winger depth they lost in the hypothetical trade, then so be it. And if that happened, then expectations would be to just keep on doing exactly what he is doing with this fourth line.
And maybe even due to him being 37 years old, we would expect a bit of decline. But just chip in every now and again and go hit some guys and not give up many scoring chances.
How do we grade Glendening’s 2025-26 season?
It was short but it was good. The overall impact was a whole lot lower than most other Flyers forwards but the way that he was able to join this team as Sean Couturier was transitioning down to his fourth-line role and then just piecing it all together so perfectly, was massive. It seemed like Glendening was really the added glue to make everything work and be someone that knows exactly what to do on every shift — to calm the waters and it truly showed in the playoffs.
But if we’re just talking about the season, then it’s still something that deserves a solid grade.
Grade: B
