The Rangers handed Luke Glendening a professional tryout this morning, hours before tonight's puck drop against the Anaheim Ducks.
A PTO costs nothing and promises even less. Think of it as a free trial subscription, the kind Chris Drury can cancel the second it stops being useful.
Glendening arrives with 934 regular season games on his resume. He turned 37 in April, and he's worn sweaters in Detroit, Dallas, Tampa Bay, New Jersey and Philadelphia.
Last season is where the pitch gets harder. He dressed 52 times for the Devils without scoring a goal, managing 4 assists and going minus-11.
Philadelphia got a slightly better version. The right-shot center put up 5 points in 18 games with the Flyers, then chipped in a goal over 10 playoff games.
The timing lines up with a hole down the middle. Joseph Veleno sits on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Jan. 3.
Mike Sullivan's bottom six can't find the net
The depth forwards haven't given Sullivan much to work with. Noah Laba has gone 10 games without a goal, picking up just 2 assists.
Jaroslav Chmelar has been held scoreless through 7 games. Cole Beaudoin, the 20-year-old, has no points in 4 appearances.
Here's where this could go sideways.
If this tryout ends with Beaudoin losing NHL minutes to a veteran who scored twice all last regular season, that's a bad call for a club that should be growing its kids.
And the standings don't scream panic. New York sits 6-3-1 and second in the Metropolitan Division.
The split tells a different story. The Rangers are a perfect 5-0-0 at home and 1-3-1 everywhere else.
They've also dropped two straight. A 7-1 loss in New Jersey on Thursday was followed by a 1-0 overtime loss in Columbus on Saturday night.
One goal in two games. Where's the offense supposed to come from?
The crease is already stretched thin, too. Igor Shesterkin is out for the season with a knee injury.
Joonas Korpisalo isn't expected back until at least Nov. 9, leaving Dylan Garand to carry the net with a .927 save percentage.
Glendening won't fix the scoring by himself. Nobody signs a fourth-line center expecting that.
What the Rangers will learn is whether he's worth a sweater before a road trip that runs through Toronto on Thursday and Ottawa on Saturday.
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His last deal carried a $775,000 cap hit. Whether Drury offers anything close to that, or lets the trial lapse quietly, is a decision the front office doesn't have to make yet.
Should the Rangers sign Luke Glendening even if it costs Cole Beaudoin his NHL minutes?
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