Monday Mailbag: We’re fired up about Luke Glendening edition
By h0ckeyfan
6 years agoIt’s Family Day out here in Ontario, which means, of course, we’re spending it with our best family, which is all of you.
Luke Glendening is a fourth-line centre on the Detroit Red Wings with a career high of 21 points. His faceoff totals this season are among the league’s best at 58%, but that skill’s nearly offset when you notice he’s putting up an even-strength Corsi percentage of 43.7%, which trends among the league’s worst.
Apparently, the Leafs are interested in him and his $1.8 million dollar contract for the next three seasons, which seems like an unnecessary commitment for a player sticking in at the bottom of your lineup.
Can we cheat? Of course we’re going to cheat. The ask of having five NHL-ready guys in anyone’s prospect pipeline at any given time is a pretty big ask all things considered.
We’re going to count Travis Dermott and Kasperi Kapanen in this list, because let’s be real, they’re both Marlies products and have been sticking with the big club recently. Simply put, there’s just not enough space for five new guys to come in. Case in point: we saw recently the Leafs having to part ways with one Nikita Soshnikov, and we don’t need any more explainers as to what’s been up with Josh Leivo over the past two years.
As for three others, it’s getting a little late in the year to be giving test runs to players, so let’s just change the question to: which three Marlies have the best chance at making the Leafs next season?
- Timothy Liljegren. All signs are pointing to him fighting for a spot with the big club next year.
- Calle Rosen. Though he got a look at the start of the year at the NHL level, he was sent down after four games and hasn’t been able to crack the roster since. But with one year left on his deal after this one, it would be sensible for the Leafs to give him extended NHL game time to see if they can get a proper return on their investment
- Andreas Johnsson. The Marlies’ leading goal scorer, it seems like it’s the fourth season in a row we wonder whether he’ll crack the big club, and honestly, we’re just rooting for him at this point.
Personally, I’m more of a fan of the Boys of Summer.
Failed to load video.
Ah, Luke Glendening again! Really, the most sensible move the Leafs would make for Glendening would be ridding themselves of, now healthy scratch Matt Martin’s contract over the next two seasons, but that honestly doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense for the Red Wings either as they’d be adding money to their salary cap even if they’re getting a year shorter term.
As for whether the Leafs’ management will make a move for Glendening? Maybe we’ll be victims of foot-in-mouth disease, but we’re going to bet they won’t. After all, they’re always involved in rumours and only a handful of them come true, so we’re just playing the percentages here.
Recent articles from h0ckeyfan
