Luke is on a cheap contract and plays his role well. He's one of the few guys on the team that I am not worried about. If we can get an upgraded version of him, great. No need to shop him. He would get a 5th round pick at best as a return.
I think that's one of the biggest factors with Glendening. He's one of the few players on this team (if not the only) not on an ELC that actually performs and contributes to the level expected for his salary/role.
He's only 28 and he's good at his assigned role. The argument that he's going to "break down" or will be too old "when the team is good again" is silly. The last real dedicated "shutdown" bottom 6 center the RW had was Kris Draper, who put up 50-55% of his career goals and points in 5 seasons he played between his 30th and 36th birthdays. Obviously not every "grinding type" forward is going to carve out a career like Kris Drapers, but they aren't all going to turn out like Darren Helm (who started piling up injuries at around 25, the same age range Glendening was when he was breaking into the league) either.
Is there an unwritten rule to rebuilding that says you need to move every possible player over the age of 27 for assets that may or (more likely) won't replace that player someday? If so, why didn't the Leafs move Komarov (who was referred to as a replaceable 4th liner in this thread) for whatever return possible when Shanahan decided to scorch the earth?
If we're using potential future "break down" and/or age the player might be when the "Red Wings are good again", why are we then still arguing to keep Mrazek around? The last two homegrown starting goalies this team developed started piling up injuries around the age of 27/28. Mrazek is about to turn 26, so they might as well get something for him before he possibly becomes broken down and injury prone when the team is good again...
===
Back on the topic of Glendenings value... IMO, it's a crapshoot to compare to previous trades and deadlines.
In the Gaustad trade, Nashville also got a 4th rounder with him for the 1st they sent out. So we don't exactly know what he might have been worth by himself. Maybe a 2nd or a 3rd+?
And as far as last years deadline prices, we're talking about draft picks for a draft that had long been speculated would be a snooze fest compared to what is supposed to be a deep one this summer. So it's entirely possible that last years 2nd round pick is closer to this years 3rd, 3rd to 4th etc. etc. That's one of the main arguments given for Green potentially returning less than a 1st this year.
It isn't like Glendening is vastly overpaid (if at all) and he doesn't have some looming NTC. He's on pace for a career year this season, why get rid of him now when he could potentially improve and get a better return in one of the next three seasons? Or is it because he's hit that "28 year expiration date" where less than elite Red Wings players are seen as suddenly having no hope of ever being any better than they are now? Is that the precise moment it goes from "selling low" to "selling high"?
Given Glendening's cost control and effective play for his role, at this point I'd only move him if the return simply can't be passed up. I mean I'm talking "Forsberg for Erat" type overpayment.