Detroit — Some athletes you just cannot picture in another uniform but the one they’ve worn their entire career.
Luke Glendening, if not at that point yet, is pretty close. Really, can any Red Wings fan truly envision Glendening wearing another hockey sweater?
Glendening has spent eight seasons with the Wings after signing out of Michigan as an undrafted free agent and spending time with the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s minor league affiliate.
The East Grand Rapids native has been affiliated with the state, or the Wings, his entire hockey career.
“Growing up a Red Wings fan and then being able to be here my whole career so far is a dream come true,” Glendening said.
Glendening, 32, is undisputedly is one of the leaders on this younger-leaning team, an alternate captain who commands a lot of respect.
“He’s a great culture guy because of where his work ethic is at,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “We talk all the time about outworking, outcompeting the other team, and he embodies that.
“And then he’s an effective player on the ice, certainly with his faceoffs, his defensive play and his ability to win battles, and also grinding teams in the offensive zone. They (the Glendening line) don’t create offense or doesn’t result in offense as much as any of us would like, but they (Glendening’s line) create momentum shifts by playing in the offensive zone.
“I would also say the better your team is, the more valuable he becomes.”
Glendening can be an unrestricted free agent this summer, as his four-year, $7.2 million contract ($1.8 million cap hit) ended.
Is it likely the Wings re-sign Glendening? Very much so. In fact, it would be mildly shocking if an agreement isn’t reached.
But during a Zoom chat with the media after the Wings’ season ended, Glendening was bracing for anything this summer.
“Wearing the winged wheel has been a dream since I first started playing hockey, and maybe even before,” Glendening said. “I never knew if it was going to be a reality, but it was something I always dreamed of.
“Every day I come to the rink to and get to put that sweater on, it’s a special day for me.”
It appears the Wings and Glendening have had general talks, if nothing specific. No contract agreement is expected to be announced or done before the July 21 expansion draft, stocking Seattle’s roster, because the Wings would have to use a protection slot on Glendening otherwise.
Glendening didn’t hide his desire to remain a Red Wing.
“I don’t know what the future holds, but obviously I love being a Red Wing and we’ll see what happens,” Glendening said. “There’s some mutual interest in coming back to Detroit, but I don’t know how it’ll play out.”
Through sheer will and a lot of hard work, Glendening has become one of the best faceoff men in the NHL.
Glendening ranked second in the NHL in faceoff percentage behind Boston’s Patrice Bergeron (62.2% to 60.9%), after leading the league for the majority of the season.
“Repetition and confidence in what you’re doing,” Glendening said of what has spurred his success in the faceoff circle. “We had a lot of guys on this team who were willing after practice to take 50 faceoffs…and there’s video you can watch of guys and what their tendencies are.
“There are lot of nuances that are in there that get overlooked a lot.”
As usual, Glendening was also among the Wings’ leaders in hits (68) and blocked shots (57) and centered one of the team’s most consistent lines with Adam Erne and Darren Helm.
Erne supplied, surprisingly, the offense with a team-high 11 goals, while Glendening and Helm (another prospective UFA) did much of the dirty work.
All three complemented each other extremely well from a grinding and checking standpoint.
“We tried to bring a work ethic and compete every single night,” Glendening said. “We figured if we could play in the other team’s zone and play a physical game, grind the other team’s top line down, it would give us a chance to win.
“We relished that opportunity and did the best we could with it.”
There has been a lot of losing in recent seasons for the Wings, but Glendening feels the organization is about to change that.
The development of many young players this season gave a veteran like Glendening plenty of reason for optimism.
“Losing is never fun or easy, and we still have a ways to go,” Glendening said. “I’m not saying we’re out of the woods yet, but we’re moving in the right direction and all these seasons losing will hopefully teach us lessons as we move forward.
“We’re a lot closer than we were. We took steps in the right direction. We had a few stinkers, but for the most part on a night-to-night basis we were competitive and in games. It was important for all of us to play in those one-goal games. The year before we were down by a lot so often you didn’t have the opportunity to feel what it was like to play in those close games, and this year we did more of that.
“With these young guys coming up, it’s exciting for the organization. We got a glimpse of Joe (Veleno), he looked real good. The development of Ras (Michael Rasmussen), (Filip) Zadina, (Dennis) Cholowski, Givani Smith, (Gustav) Lindstrom, there’s a lot of reason for optimism.
“I’d love to be part of this moving forward.”
ted.kulfan@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tkulfan