The Boston Bruins rounded out their strong showing at this year’s trade deadline with the acquisition of Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings. The addition came on the heels of injuries to Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno. Hall was moved to long-term injured reserve (LTIR) with a lower-body injury, but all signs are still pointing to him returning for the playoffs.
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In the meantime, the Bruins acquired an interesting forward in Bertuzzi who scored 30 goals last season. He’s in the final year of a two-year deal that carries an average annual value of $4.75 million. Most likely he will just be a rental and will depart this summer, but in the meantime, he has the potential to be an incredibly impactful player for the team down this final stretch and into the postseason.
Road to the NHL
Bertuzzi was born in Sudbury, Ontario on Feb. 24, 1995. The left wing comes from an NHL family as his uncle is Todd Bertuzzi, who had a long NHL career spanning from the 1995-96 season through 2013-14, ending his career where Tyler’s began in Detroit.
Bertuzzi played his junior hockey career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the Guelph Storm. In four seasons in Guelph, he played 201 games and registered 71 goals and 172 total points. In the two seasons leading up to his draft year, he was mostly known for his physical playing style. He had 117 penalty minutes in 2011-12 and 68 minutes in 2012-13. He wasn’t afraid to fight and make the big hits.
Leading into the 2013 NHL Entry Level Draft, he was considered to be very much a grinder of a player. He was ranked 207th overall for North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. Bertuzzi was not turning heads leading up to his draft year, which was why it was puzzling to many when then-Red Wings general manager, Ken Holland, selected him in the second round at pick number 58. He was the team’s third selection of that draft, taken behind Anthony Mantha and Zach Nastasiuk.
There were many questions about what Bertuzzi’s future in the NHL would look like if he ever got there. The season following his draft in the OHL saw him miss 25 games due to head and neck injuries that stemmed from fights. At the 2014 Red Wings development camp, he got in an on-ice fight with Nick Jensen that led to Jensen missing four months for shoulder surgery. Given that so much of his game was based…
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